The Lively District Secondary School football team is not about to contend for the city final this year. In fact, with Lo-Ellen, St. Benedict and Lockerby all stacked in the same division, the Hawks will be hard-pressed to advance through to the Division A playoffs.
But make no mistake - this team has arrived.
A three-week span that would see Lively beat the Confederation Chargers 12-7, go down to the last play in a 35-27 loss to the Lockerby Vikings and dismantle their usual rival, the Chelmsford Flyers, to the tune of a 51-19 victory, has provided a different mindset for the Hawks.
The black and gold, under the stewardship of a rock-solid coaching staff, led by former Sudbury Spartans’ quarterback Rej Bonin, believe they can now step on the field with anybody.
A veteran of four years with the Lively program, linebacker Devin Pellerin noticed the difference right from the outset of training camp in late August.
“A lot more players came out this year than in other years,” Pellerin said, after a recent practice. “At the start of the year, we had almost 40 players. It’s a lot easier in practice with a lot of players. It’s easier to scrimmage and learn.”
A starting quarterback last year who has excelled even more with the move to wide receiver this fall, senior Milo Gaudin agreed that there is simply a different feeling this time around.
“There is a lot more confidence with this team,” Gaudin said. Roughly half the players on the roster are returning from 2010.
“The last few years, we only have ever gotten either one win or no wins. This year, we want to win more than once.”
Mission accomplished, thanks to their thumping of Chelmsford last Friday.
Of course, a little success along the way helps any coaching staff immensely, as a positive atmosphere around the squad can easily run full circle.
“The huge difference this year is attitude,” coach Bonin said. “The kids are so positive, they’re coming in ready to learn and they trust themselves, they trust the coaching, they trust their teammates. And having a lot of kids playing summer ball helped.”
Indeed. The top-end talent on this Lively team does not have to take a backseat to a whole lot of their competitors in the city. Offensively, rising star Hunter Holub, only in Grade 10, has replaced Gaudin at pivot, benefiting from an arsenal that is pretty darn impressive.
Accumulating 325 passing yards in the loss to the Vikings, Holub made great use of the athleticism of Jake Punkari, Billy Kosar and Gaudin — a performance that was that much more impressive, considering Scott Friesen missed the game due to injury.
Always the toughest position to fill, linemen Ben Autio and Brett Mickelson have provided some much-needed stability in the trenches, although the Hawks clearly rely on top-end talent that can play both sides of the ball.
Kosar is a shining example, handling receiving, defensive back and punt/kickoff return duties.
“My favourite is halfback on defence, because I guess I just like creaming kids,” he said with a smile. “I like catching and running too, but hitting is my favourite.”
Gaudin, who is also an accomplished baseball player, has made a seamless transition from quarterback to wideout, allowing Holub to get his feet wet at a relatively early age.
“I find that there’s less stress at wide receiver than quarterback,” Gaudin said. “When you’re quarterback, you have to make the play, it’s always on you. At wide receiver, I just stay wide and use my speed. When I go inside, I just dodge and see how that works out for me.”
With a solid core of young talent to work with moving forward, Bonin is optimistic of what lies ahead.
“I know that I have good kids that work really hard,” he said. “In my mind, the gap between the best team in high school football and the worst team is typically not that big. The top teams have those two or three players who really excel.”
But confidence can be a wonderful thing in the realm of the sporting world.
“After we beat Confed, everyone was pretty fired up,” Pellerin said. “We had a lot more motivation because we knew we had more of a chance against the top teams.”
It’s probably not enough to walk away with a SDSSAA Division A banner in the end, but it will be an awfully fun season to watch for the Lively faithful.
Randy Pascal is the founder of SudburySports.com and a contributing sports editor for Northern Life.
- Posted by Laurel Myers
