Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
The Sault Sabercats are headed to the final four.
After finishing the 2026 Ontario Summer Football League (OSFL) U16 ‘AA’ regular season with a fourth-place record of 4-1-2, the Sabercats travelled to Aurora, Ontario on Saturday, July 11th and delivered an impressive performance, upsetting the first-place York Lions (6-1) 21-8 in the Sandy Rucksthul U16 ‘AA’ quarter-final.
The Sabercats wasted little time taking control of the game.
Just 2:54 into the opening quarter, Adam Provenzano powered his way through the York defence from two yards out to give Sault a 7-0 advantage following Mason Mazzuca’s successful convert.
The offence struck again midway through the first quarter. Quarterback Reegan DeZordo connected with Vinn Sagle on a five-yard pass before Sagle raced 13 yards into the end zone, extending the Sabercats’ lead to 14-0 after another Mazzuca conversion.
The two-touchdown cushion held through halftime as the Sabercats’ defence kept the Lions’ high-powered offence off the scoreboard.
Late in the third quarter, Sault added some breathing room when Kaleb Laitinen found the end zone on a five-yard rushing touchdown with just one minute remaining in the frame. Mazzuca remained perfect on converts, pushing the Sabercats’ lead to 21-0.
York managed to break the shutout at the 10:00 mark of the fourth quarter, scoring on a 36-yard touchdown run before adding the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 21-8. However, the Sabercats’ defence closed the door the rest of the way, securing the impressive road victory over the top-seeded Lions.
Sabercat coach Jim Monico told Saultsports that “we’re very pleased with our performance today. We’ll enjoy this win tonight and then get right back to work preparing for our next opponent. I thought we established the tone early by running the football and playing a physical brand of football. Defensively, our guys were physical and relentless for four quarters, which is the standard we expect from that group.
At the end of the day, our intensity and physicality were the difference today. If we want to keep having success, those same qualities will need to show up again next week.”
With the win, the Sabercats advance to the OSFL U16 ‘AA’ Sandy Rucksthul semi-final, where they will face either the Toronto Argos or the Sudbury Spartans on Saturday, July 18th. The winner of that matchup will earn a berth in the league championship game.
The victory marks another milestone in what has already been a memorable season for the Sabercats, who continue their pursuit of an OSFL U16 ‘AA’ championship after knocking off the regular season’s top-ranked team on its home field.
