Skip to content

Gladiators ready for a summer in the trenches

With the new season set to begin on Saturday, the theme of the Sudbury Gladiators 2015 varsity season is youth, and it starts right at the top.
230714_gladiators
The Sudbury Gladiators head into the playoffs in third place in the Mike Ramsay Conference. Photo by Roy Muncaster
With the new season set to begin on Saturday, the theme of the Sudbury Gladiators 2015 varsity season is youth, and it starts right at the top.

Less than a decade removed from his own playing days, Aaron Rehel takes over as head coach of the local Ontario Football Conference (OFC) team, with some pockets of veteran leadership in the lineup, but plenty of young talent just cutting their teeth at this level.

Look no further than projected starting quarterback Chris Moutsatsos.

While Rehel and offensive co-ordinator Neil Petrin will get the chance to mold a prototypical athlete at QB — tall, athletic and blessed with a strong arm — the fact remains Moutsatsos has yet to take over the starting job with the varsity Lo-Ellen Park Knights.

There will be growing pains.

"I think we'll be OK. I'm not too concerned, to be honest," said Rehel on Monday, less than a week before a season opening road game in Barrie. "The young guys are all eager to learn, they're just out there to play as hard as they possibly can."

With Thomas Rideout and Johnny Pavacic in the backfield, Moutsatsos will have a couple of tested runners to work with, while Ian Christakos of Lockerby makes the jump from the JV team.

The receiving corps returns only Logan Baronette, with Darcy Labelle and transitioned defensive back Noah Skuce making their debut at the varsity ranks.

Out of the entire offence, the line might boast the most OFC game experience, with the likes of Alex Vendramin, Ben Favot and Frank Pegahmagabow already used to the war in the trenches.

Former fullback Chris Leon brings another big body to the mix, joining his brother Michael, as well as centre Rob Kotyluk. Rehel and Petrin plan to do what they can to ease the offence through the early season initiation.

"There really are a lot of ways to help out a young quarterback without having to roll him out and do all sorts of flip-flopping," said Rehel. "We have to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers as quickly as possible.

"Guys like (Rideout) and (Pavacic) are not likely to make anyone miss. They would just as soon run over them. We'll try and play to our strength."

Defensively, the picture is brighter, certainly in terms of the overall level of experience.

The D-line will be anchored by Devin McCullough, Andy Andretta, Cameron McDermid and Eric Greene, with Spencer Pierce, Brandon Maki and newcomer David Lambert likely to see rotational usage.

Though a torn meniscus to talented rookie Andrew Kohut eliminated some depth at linebacker, a group that features the likes of Joe Jelen, Connor Mick, John Bronischeski, Brock Connor and Graeme Stevens could certainly be described as the strength of this team.

In fact, once combined with a secondary unit of Pierce Wallingford, Miller Donnelly, Jesse Brear, Josh Girolametto, Konnor Gillis and Sean Antonioni, one can see why Rehel is much less nervous about the talent defensive co-ordinator Matt Dumont has at his disposal.

"I'm thankful that we have a pretty veteran defense," said Rehel. "It's such a close-knit defensive side, that will hopefully keep us close. I was lucky enough to catch a lot of these guys when they first joined the junior varsity team.”

The toughest chore facing the young coaching staff might lie in keeping this team optimistic given a schedule that opens at the home of two-time defending conference champion, the Huronia Stallions.

"It will give us a chance to see where we stand compared to the best in the league, give us a chance to evaluate our own players, our own systems," said Rehel. "It's a great measuring stick, especially for a young crew."

From there, things can only go up.

"Looking at the rest of the schedule, I see us fighting in every single game. Maybe I'm being optimistic or just green."

But hey, that's the theme in 2015.

Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.