Cornwall Wildcats take advantage of Myers Riders’ mistakes to claim 37-8 victory

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The cool cats won.

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That would be the Cornwall Wildcats, who moved to 3-2 in the Ontario Summer Football League after a home game Saturday at Joe St. Denis Field.

The U18 team took advantage of the Myers Riders’ 60-yard misconduct penalties on one possession to open a 3-0 game.

That allowed Wildcats running back Joseph Sisk to go on a short touchdown run for a 10-0 lead, setting up a 37-8 victory.

Although time was of the essence in the first half, Cornwall was not happy and attempted a side kick which almost worked. The Riders’ possession nearly netted a first down, but a well-thrown ball bounced off the chest of a Riders receiver.

A broken play then developed as the Riders faked the punt, only to have it bounce deep into their zone. A Rider corralled him to kick a kick to midfield, but a blocker was called for unnecessary roughness at the point of the punt, resulting in another big loss of yardage.

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The Wildcats’ second down at the Riders’ six-yard line then produced a touchdown reception by Noah Cardinal to increase Cornwall’s lead to 17-0 at the half.

“It’s an emotion league, an emotion sport; it’s part of the game,” Wildcats head coach Alex Labonte said. “So any time you have a team that loses emotional control, we have to hold firm.

“We could have fallen into that trap as well,” he said, of the possibility of retaliatory sanctions.

Some ‘Cats were so down-to-earth that left back Reed Camplin made it a point to say “hello, Grandma” after seeing her on the bench.

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From there, the Wildcats defensive backfield had four interceptions during the second half. The highlight was delivered by Jimmy Walrond, who found redemption after getting stung for a long Riders gain.

“We were in court, we saw the (Riders) quarterback open up a little bit next to me, we reached down, grabbed him and the green grass there,” Walrond said.

“He made a mental mistake and then came back with a touchdown for a touchdown,” Labonte said.

“And then at the end of the game he (Walrond) got another (interception) to seal the game.”

The turnovers gave the quarterback tandem of Chase Gillispie and Jacob Legault more opportunities to score.

Cornwall went up 24-0 after DB Ryan Coulson got the first pickoff. That set up Keegan Aragon-McCann’s leap for a 25-yard catch.

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Linebacker Devlin McAdam then zeroed in on another Riders throw, coming just three feet short of his own pick-six. Cornwall’s sure kicker, Zachary Aubin, kicked a field goal for a 27-0 lead.

Aubin’s kicks and punts drew as many oohs and aahs as any player on the field, including a kickoff into the end zone.

A couple minutes into the fourth quarter, the Riders finally scored on a 35-yard throw to Moses Mansaray, who followed with a two-point conversion.

But Walrond’s pick-six sealed the game, followed by another Aubin FG.

Walrond said his team was prepared to “make big plays and attack the tackles hard.”

“I’m very happy with the defense,” said Labonte, who said a shutout seemed possible.

He said the Wildcats’ few mental mistakes were outweighed by their teamwork and overall hustle.

Cornwall’s victory keeps the Wildcats in third place in their division, but “I don’t care about the record: we are a playoff team and we are going to keep working until we get to the last game against Kingston; win that game and host a playoff game.”

That journey continues when the Wildcats host the Oshawa Hawkeyes, beginning this Saturday at 4 p.m.

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