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(Posted
9:30 a.m., Sept. 1)
Panthers
off to strong start as minor football season gets underway
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online The
Cumberland Panthers will be looking to build on a strong start to their NCAFA
season as they prepare for a full slate of games against the Gloucester South
Raiders this coming Monday at Millennium Park. The
tyke, peewee and bantam teams are all 2-0, while the mosquito squad is 1-1 after
crushing the Cornwall Wildcats 50-0 on Sunday. The
tyke team opened the season with a 25-13 win over the North Gloucester Giants
on Aug. 22 and then downed the Wildcats 45-18 in Cornwall on the weekend Feeding
off the success of their fellow Panthers, the peewee team kicked off their season
with an impressive 41-6 win over the Giants and then narrowly escaped Cornwall
with a 20-18 win over the Wildcats. The
bantam team followed up a 19-13 win over the Giants in Week 1 by taming the Wildcats
26-7 on the weekend. Tyrone Pierre ran for two touchdowns and Sean Decloux kicked
four field goals and made good on both point after attempts. Head
coach Chris Molinski has a lot of tools to work with as the Panthers set their
sights on a berth in the NCAFA A-Cup final. No fewer than eight players are coming
off successful OVFL seasons, including quarterback Jake Molinski, tailback Jaylen
King and linemen Ryan Williamson and Grant Gregory who all played on the OV Peewee
team. Five other players -- Phil Wakim, Will Wojick, Joel Lavoie, Olivier Derepentigny
and Phil Allard -- were on the JV squad. "If
we stay healthy we should definitely be in the mix," says Molinski. After
losing their season opener to the North Gloucester Giants 30-14, the Panthers
mosquito team rebounded nicely and totally dominated the Cornwall Wildcats 50-0. Daymon
Williams and Aidan Koscher did most of the damage on offence for the Panthers,
who scored on almost every possession. Aidan Aylward added a touchdown on a punt
return and Bryson Michel kicked multiple converts. With
a solid win under their belts the mosquito squad will be looking to improve their
record to 2-1 when they face the Gloucester South Raiders on Monday. (This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.) Return
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