BY JASON
THOMPSON
With geographical bragging rights and a playoff berth on the
line, the Sudbury Spartans are facing a must-win game Saturday
when the North Bay Bulldogs invade Queen's Athletic Field.
On top of a win against the Bulldogs, the local squad needs
Quinte to lose to Oakville this weekend if they're going to see
any post-season action.  
"It's a must win," said Spartan coach Chris Bartolucci. "I
don't think you can take them lightly, they had a tough
schedule and they got off to a slow start... North Bay is a
better team than their record (0-7) shows."
Bartolucci says he hasn't seen a 60-minute effort from the
Spartans in their past couple games and unless that changes
against North Bay, they don't deserve to make the playoffs
anyway.
"We gave that game away this weekend to the Maddogs,"
Bartolucci said, describing his Jekyll and Hyde team who looked
like world-beaters during the first half of the contest and
fell to pieces in the second.
"We were flawless, we were marching the ball, we threw the
ball well, our defence was right on the money and we came away
with points against the number one defence in the league
(allowed 46 points against going into the Sudbury game, second
lowest in the league)...next thing you know we find ourselves
with our backs against the wall and we run out of time."
In what will likely be a game-time decision, the Spartans
may get two veteran bodies back from injury in quarterback Paul
Gauthier (shoulder) and running back Dave St. Amour (abdomen,
groin).
"(Gauthier) thinks he's ready, but I'm going to say no
because I think with the nature of the injury Paul has, if he
goes too hard or goes too deep, too soon, he's going to
re-injure that shoulder very quickly," said Bartolucci, hoping
to save his stud for the playoffs should the Spartans get
there.
"Reg (Bonin) is doing the job, he put up enough passes and
enough yards Saturday (July 22) and he's not a problem."
Gauthier said he wasn't sure if he'd be able to suit up this
weekend.
"At practice we'll be throwing the ball a little bit and
we'll see what it's like...with an injury you're a little
tentative and you don't really know for sure until you start
throwing the ball as hard as you would like."
The aging quarterback admits he'd like to taste playoff
action once more before riding his career into the sunset.
"I try not to think that far ahead, one game at a time but
I'm not getting any younger...I think my body's trying to tell
me something because I didn't get hit, I just hurt it
throwing."
St. Amour, whose injury woes have kept him off the field all
season, will be dressed this weekend in order to be eligible to
play in the post-season if the Spartans get that far. How many
minutes he sees on the field could be another matter.
"I've been working to get back as quick as I can,
unfortunately it's just not coming around as fast as we'd like
it to," St. Amour said. He probably could have played the last
two games but decided against it to avoid risking re-injury.
"I would think I'll be dressed and playing this weekend," he
said. "It's been frustrating because you make a commitment to a
team and you want to help out and if you're hurt, it's easy to
play through some pain, but when you're injured and you
physically can't compete, it makes it tough because you want to
help out and you're just not able to."
Despite some of the regulars who are out of the line-up,
Bartolucci said he isn't going to use injury as an excuse for
failure this weekend.
"It's our best 12 against their best 12 and who is on the
sidelines or who is not dressed is of little consequence at
this point in time," he said.
"I don't know if it's the same kind of animosity that exists
between Sudbury and the Sault, I think it's a friendlier
competition," said Bartolucci.
"Marc Mathon, their coach, who's a former Spartan who played
for Sid (Forrester) is coming back to town. He lived here for
awhile so there's a rivalry."
While Bartolucci tells his players to play the game one
quarter at a time, he can't help but consider the possibilities
if his team caught lightning in a bottle.
"If we go undefeated in the next five games we win the
championship," he said. "On any given Sunday - or Saturday,
anything can happen."
The Sudbury Spartans take on North Bay Saturday at Queen's Athletic Field at 7 pm. The Northern Football Conference Hall of Fame inductees for 2006 will be announced during the game.
