Coming off a commanding 64–7 win in their Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) debut on August 1st in Aurora, Ontario, against the GTA Grizzlies, the Sault College Cougars were back on the road for week two action. This time, they faced the Hamilton Hurricanes at Hamilton Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Hurricanes, looking to rebound from a narrow 16–9 season-opening loss to the London Beefeaters, wasted little time making their mark on home turf.
Just five minutes into the opening quarter, Hamilton’s Quintin Joseph jumped a pass from Cougar quarterback Grayson Weber, returning the interception 52 yards for a pick-six. Gabriel Canabrava’s convert made it 7–0 for the hosts. Early in the second quarter, the Cougars responded when Sam Mustaspha broke free from three would-be tacklers for a 55-yard rushing touchdown. Kicker Nik Vecchio’s extra point tied the game at 7–7, and on the ensuing kickoff, Vecchio’s boot sailed through the Hurricanes’ end zone for a single point, giving the Sault their first and only lead of the contest at 8–7.
From there, Hamilton took control. In the third quarter, quarterback Kayrus Sam connected with a wide-open Evan Siderius in the end zone for a nine-yard major, with Canabrava adding the convert to put the Hurricanes ahead 14–8. Early in the fourth, Gianluca Muraca powered through for a 40-yard touchdown run, dodging two Cougar defenders to extend the lead to 21–8 after another successful convert. A kickoff rouge by Canabrava made it 22–8.
Hamilton’s momentum continued when Jeremiah Graham found the end zone for the Hurricanes’ fourth major, making it 29–8 following the convert. Another rouge pushed the lead to 30–8. The Cougars showed life late in the game when they blocked a Canabrava punt, tipping it into the hands of Sefton Andrews, who sprinted 26 yards for a touchdown. Vecchio’s convert narrowed the score to 30–15. But Hamilton closed the door with a big play in the dying minutes — backup quarterback Matt Murray faked a handoff before launching a 35-yard strike to Wes Wiens, who rushed an additional 30 yards for the final major of the game, sealing a 37–15 victory for the Hurricanes.
Cougar coach Paul Orazietti told Saultsports that “it was a disappointing loss for sure. We had hoped for a different result but Hamilton has a good team and they exposed some of our youth and inexperience today. We couldn’t find a rhythm on offence and we faded on defence in the second half. We need to assess the film make the corrections, work harder and flip the page if we to be prepared for Quinte next weekend.”
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 1–1 in their inaugural CJFL season. They’ll look to bounce back on Saturday, August 16th, when they visit Belleville to face the 0–1 Quinte Skyhawks in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
