On Saturday, May 21st, the junior and varsity Sault Sabercats hit the highway to open their 2022 Ontario Summer Football League (OSFL) football season for two development games (exhibition) after two seasons missed to face the North Bay Bulldogs at the Steve Omischl Sports Complex for 4:00 p.m and 7:00 p.m kickoffs.

The junior Sabercats dominated the Bulldogs from the opening kickoff with a final score of 57-0 win to open the 2022 OSFL season. No stats reported from the junior Sabercat game.

In varsity action, the Sabercats ran for a total of 200 yards and finished game one of the season with 163 yards passing. In their 57 – 0 shutout win, the Sabercats had seven touchdowns, two 2 points, one safety and a pick six. Michael Nicoletta led the Sabercats with 130 yards on twelve carries that finished in two touchdowns while quarterback Ryan Barnes few 13 completions on 21 attempts for a total of four touchdowns and 158 yards passing in the win. With a total of 68 yards caught, Daniel Bumbaco finished Saturday’s contest with three catches that included two touchdowns, a one point single kick and a two point catch. Kaiden Fisher, Ronan Provenzano, and Barnes ran for a total of 50 yards on nine carries with Fisher carried the ball five times, Provenzano had two carries for 22 yards while Barnes had two carries for a total of 20 yards in the win. Matt Malcolm had a two point catch for the Sabercats in North Bay.

Jaiden Trudeau and Johnny Filion rushed for a total of 84 yards for the Sabercats with Trudeau receiving the ball five times for 52 yards while Filion caught two passes with 31 yards for the Sault. Ryan Duncan added a safety and Lucas Malcom had a pick six in the 49 – 0 win over the Bulldogs. Gabe Barkley had one completion on one attempt for five yards the resulted in two points for the blue and gold.

On defense, Seamus Parlow and Nick Carter had 2.5 tackles each while Owen Trecartin finished the game with six tackles followed by Konnor Ritchie with 4.5 tackles. Jacob Brown had one sack along with Lucas Malcom adding a pick six to the Sabercats defensive stats to open 2022.

Sabercat varsity coach Matt Premo told Saultsports that “Very happy with the team’s performance today. Our guys executed well in all three facets of the game. We were able to control the tempo from the opening kick off. To carry the momentum into next week we need another good week of practice and continue to improve each week as we build for the regular season.”

The Sabercats will be back in action on Saturday, May 28th at Superior Heights in Sault Ste Marie with kickoffs of 1:00 p.m (junior) and a 4:00 p.m start for varsity.