Tykes kick off playoffs with win
Hunter Gray was a four-star General when the Ontario Football League tyke division playoffs kicked off Saturday in St. Catharines.
The Niagara Generals back earned three of them on offence, one for each of the touchdowns he scored in a 2013 victory over the Vaughan Rebels at Kiwanis Field.
Gray’s fourth star was the result of standout play on the other side of the ball. He stripped the ball away from the Rebels setting the stage for his game-winning touchdown as the Generals won their fourth in a row.
Rachel Robinson also was outstanding on defence for the hosts, and Ethan Rice had two, one-point conversions to round out the scoring for Niagara.
It was the Generals’ second victory in as many starts against Vaughan. They beat the Rebels 27-21 two weeks ago in Vaughan.
Next up for Niagara is a 9:30 a.m. kickoff on the road Saturday against the Scarborough Thunder.
Scarbourgh, which opened the playoff by defeating Cambridge Red 36-20 to remain undefeated, outscored the Generals 32-6 in a regular season game Sept. 23 in St. Catharines.
Jr. Tiger-Cats 49, Generals 6
At Hamilton, visiting Niagara suffered an unusual number of injuries prompting Generals head coach Matthew MacRae to call the atom game.
Evan McCue intercepted a pass and took it into end zone to score Niagara’s only touchdown.
It was the Generals’ second loss in a row to Hamilton and third overall to the Jr. Ticats this season. Hamilton defeated Niagara 60-6 at Kiwanis Park in Week 2 of the season and closed out league play a week ago with a 45-7 victory at home.
Stampeders 45, Generals 0
At Burlington, Niagara lost on the road for the third week in a row to close out the peewee football season with an overall record of 4-5.