Gladiators destroyed 24-0 by Brantford Bisons

Something of a mirror-image of their gridiron opponents on Saturday, the hometown Brantford Bisons were simply that much better at doing what they, and the Sudbury Gladiators, tend to do fairly well.

The end result was a 24-0 Brantford win, improving the Bisons' record to 3-2 while dropping the Gladiators to 2-3. With an OFC divisional low of 47 points scored to their credit, the Sudbury crew tried to mix things up as much as possible against a big, physical adversary.

"We were playing in a storm, and we were forcing our hand, trying to get the passing game going," suggested Gladiators' head coach Aaron Rehel. "They were big and aggressive, a team that was a lot like ours."

"I think it came down to the fact that they were a better team at doing what we like doing."

In many ways, this is all part and parcel of the growing pains, offensively, that Rehel and his staff fully expected, integrating a number of key newcomers or first-time starters in skilled positions.

"At this point, we are really just looking at getting the ball out of Chris (Moutsatsos') hands as quickly as possible, and into the hands of the playmakers - Darcy Labelle, Noah Skuce, Logan Baronette - and see what they can do."

At the same time the offense was being kept off the scoreboard by the Bisons, the Sudbury defensive unit was making some required adjustments. Defensive end Eric Greene was unavailable, with the Glads inserting rookie linebacker Graeme Stevens into a very tough assignment.

"The average weight on their offensive line was likely 300 pounds, and they had guys that were 6-5 or so," said Rehel. "So when we were forced to move a guy like Graeme Stevens into that situation, you have to remember that it will help you down the road."

Despite surrendering more than 20 points for the first time this summer, Rehel had no issue at all with the work of the Sudbury defense.

"They played their hearts out, like they do every game," he said.

"The defense has been on the field quite a bit these past few games, and the games have really been slugfests, so I think the fact that they (the Bisons) had the larger number of snaps caught up to us."

Both Gladiators' squads return home this Saturday for a double-header opposite the Peterborough Wolverines.

The JV Sudbury crew will kickoff against their undefeated (6-0) opponents at 3 p.m. on the turf of the James Jerome Sports Complex, while the Varsity Gladiators face a tough Wolverines side (4-1) for a 6 p.m. start time.