Archives - 2016
Complete Maritime Football League archives can be found at www.maritimefootball.com
Maritime Football League takes unique new step to promote player safety May 12, 2016 6:00 AM ADT The Maritime Football League is thinking outside the box and moving in a unique direction. “We talk every year about player safety and retaining players being at the top of the agenda for us,” said league commissioner Eric Sabean. “At the annual general meeting this year, we presented a proposal to the teams that they unanimously accepted. We have a new rule in place that each team must have a conduct coach on the sideline for every game. “The conduct coach is a liason between the officials and myself. The responsibility of the conduct coach is to keep their players in line and to talk to the conduct coach on the other sideline. If there are issues, they will chat with the referees before the game and at halftime. If there’s stuff that needs to be dealt with, they would talk to me afterwards.” The men’s tackle football league will have five teams in its 15th season. The regular season will begin when the Capital Area Gladiators of Fredericton visit the defending champion Saint John Wanderers on May 28. The Moncton Mustangs and Prince Edward Island Privateers will clash on May 29 in Charlottetown. The Nova Scotia Buccaneers, a Halifax-based club, will have a bye in the opening weekend. All teams will play a six-game schedule in the regular season. “This season will mark the first time that we’ve ever had conduct coaches,” said Sabean. “The primary responsibility of the people who hold this position is to manage the conduct of their team. We’ve encouraged everybody to identify someone for this position who’s not affiliated with their team. “Every team has somebody hanging around from the football community. It needs to be somebody who’s respected, somebody who’s known and somebody who’s going to make people be held accountable for their actions. The conduct coach for each team needs to be approved by me before the season starts.” The league hopes that by having conduct coaches it will help lead to a safer playing environment and less injuries. The hope is that conduct coaches will help teams keep their emotions in check. “Two seasons ago, we didn’t have any ejections due to rough play or objectionable conduct,” said Sabean. “Last season, we did have a couple of games where we had conduct issues. The job of the conduct coaches is to help keep these issues in check. “The league’s vision is that we’re in this because we love football, but everybody has jobs and they have to go to work on Monday morning. There’s no room in our league for people who don’t play within the guidelines. The safer we can make the league the better chance we have of retaining players and recruiting new players.” Sabean was asked if there’s any message that he wants to spread about the MFL. “We’ve done quite well as a league,” he said. “People who didn’t previously have an opportunity to watch our league have come out in the past couple of seasons and they’ve come to realize that this is high-end entertaining football. We’ve been able to get some new fans and we’re hoping to keep build our fan base.”
Maritime Football League takes unique new step to promote player safety May 12, 2016 6:00 AM ADT The Maritime Football League is thinking outside the box and moving in a unique direction. “We talk every year about player safety and retaining players being at the top of the agenda for us,” said league commissioner Eric Sabean. “At the annual general meeting this year, we presented a proposal to the teams that they unanimously accepted. We have a new rule in place that each team must have a conduct coach on the sideline for every game. “The conduct coach is a liason between the officials and myself. The responsibility of the conduct coach is to keep their players in line and to talk to the conduct coach on the other sideline. If there are issues, they will chat with the referees before the game and at halftime. If there’s stuff that needs to be dealt with, they would talk to me afterwards.” The men’s tackle football league will have five teams in its 15th season. The regular season will begin when the Capital Area Gladiators of Fredericton visit the defending champion Saint John Wanderers on May 28. The Moncton Mustangs and Prince Edward Island Privateers will clash on May 29 in Charlottetown. The Nova Scotia Buccaneers, a Halifax-based club, will have a bye in the opening weekend. All teams will play a six-game schedule in the regular season. “This season will mark the first time that we’ve ever had conduct coaches,” said Sabean. “The primary responsibility of the people who hold this position is to manage the conduct of their team. We’ve encouraged everybody to identify someone for this position who’s not affiliated with their team. “Every team has somebody hanging around from the football community. It needs to be somebody who’s respected, somebody who’s known and somebody who’s going to make people be held accountable for their actions. The conduct coach for each team needs to be approved by me before the season starts.” The league hopes that by having conduct coaches it will help lead to a safer playing environment and less injuries. The hope is that conduct coaches will help teams keep their emotions in check. “Two seasons ago, we didn’t have any ejections due to rough play or objectionable conduct,” said Sabean. “Last season, we did have a couple of games where we had conduct issues. The job of the conduct coaches is to help keep these issues in check. “The league’s vision is that we’re in this because we love football, but everybody has jobs and they have to go to work on Monday morning. There’s no room in our league for people who don’t play within the guidelines. The safer we can make the league the better chance we have of retaining players and recruiting new players.” Sabean was asked if there’s any message that he wants to spread about the MFL. “We’ve done quite well as a league,” he said. “People who didn’t previously have an opportunity to watch our league have come out in the past couple of seasons and they’ve come to realize that this is high-end entertaining football. We’ve been able to get some new fans and we’re hoping to keep build our fan base.”
Mustangs win season opener May 29, 2016 7:00 PM ADT CORNWALL, P.E.I. - The Moncton Mustangs opened the Maritime Football League season on a winning note on Sunday. Matt Rose scored three touchdowns and the Mustangs defeated the P.E.I. Privateers 35-13 in the first game of the season for both teams. Rose caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Dam Comfort and he also returned a kickoff for another major. Comfort also ran for a touchdown for the Mustangs and so too did Robbie Chevarie. Moncton running back Aubrey Ellis ran for over 200 rushing yards in the victory. Justin Gray recorded two sacks and Nathan Anderson had six tackles for the Mustangs. Moncton led 21-7 at halftime. The Mustangs visit the Capitals Area Gladiators on Saturday in Fredericton. The Mustangs don’t play their home opener until June 18 against the Nova Scotia Buccaneers.
Wanderers Win On The Road June 4, 2016 7:00 PM ADT HALIFAX, NS - A huge 42-0 road win for the Saint John "Alpine" Wanderers over the Nova Scotia Buccaneers. For the second straight week the Wanderers' offence marched down the field at will. QB Jon Golacki had a near perfect game throwing for 4 TDS. Recievers Henrik Tonning IV, Darian Mirosnikov, Adam Spurrell & Nick Noël each had a receiving touchdown. Defensively, the Wanderers forced 3 turnovers earning the shutout. Tom Making had 2 interceptions & Marcus Whittingham with 1. On special teams, Henrik Tonning IV went 6 for 6 on point after attempts. Next week the Wanderers host the Moncton Mustangs, Saturday 4pm @ Shamrock Park
Last-minute touchdown gives Mustangs tie on the road June 4, 2016 7:00 PM ADT Dwayne Tingley - Times & Transcript - June 5th, 2016 FREDERICTON, NB - The Moncton Mustangs are still undefeated in the Maritime Football League – thanks to some late-game drama. The Mustangs and Capital Area Gladiators of Fredericton tied 21-21 Saturday night at the Scotiabank Park North Field in Fredericton. The Mustangs are in sole possession of second place with a 1-0-1 record while the Gladiators are 0-1-1. “Getting a tie in this game felt even better than getting our win against P.E.I.,” said Mustangs head coach Jason Terris. “I was thinking back to our last game last year, when we got blown out by 30 points or something like that by Fredericton and this year we managed to get a tie,” he said. “It was a great feeling for our team. I know all of the players and the coaching staff have been encouraged. It gives us a lot of confidence to see how much our team has improved.” The Gladiators led 14-7 at halftime and 21-7 after three quarters, but the Mustangs rallied with 14 unanswered points in the fourth to pick up the tie. “We were missing a few guys and we didn’t keep our focus early in the game,” Terris said. “We just stayed positive and encouraged our guys to keep battling away. "We were resilient and showed a lot of character. Even when we got down early in the game, our guys didn’t give up.” The Mustangs completed a long drive, when quarterback Dan Comfort hit Chris Brown with a five-yard touchdown reception with just four seconds left on the clock. Adam Shea nailed the convert to tie the game. “A big factor was our conditioning, which allowed us to come back late in the game,” Terris said. “Our players have worked hard to improve their conditioning and it paid off in this game. It should help us later in the season, too.” Steve Fox also contributed a touchdown reception and Comfort scored a major on a three-yard keeper. Shea kicked all three converts. Quarterback Bobby McIntyre threw three touchdown passes for the Gladiators. Nathan Heather, Charlie Gallagher and Turner Sturgeon each picked up majors. The Mustangs were led defensively by strong-side linebacker Steve Cormier, who registered 14 tackles. Defensive back Dom Comtois had an interception. The Mustangs visit the first-place Saint John Wanderers (2-0) on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Shamrock Park.
Wanderers beat Mustangs, stay perfect June 11, 2016 7:00 PM ADT SAINT JOHN • The three-time defending champion Saint John Wanderers improved to 3-0 in the Maritime Football League with a 42-38 win over the Moncton Mustangs on Saturday at Shamrock Field. The Wanderers, with a roster stocked with accomplished veterans, led 35-20 at halftime before the Mustangs battled back to close the gap to eight points in the second half. The second-place Mustangs slipped to 1-1-1 with the loss. The Wanderers are off until June 25 when they travel to Cornwall, to play the 0-2 P.E.I. Privateers.
Mustangs win first home game of season June 18, 2016 7:00 PM ADT DWAYNE TINGLEY Times & Transcript MONCTON, NB - Moncton Mustangs head coach Jason Terris isn’t looking for flashy football. “In a league like ours, you have to stick to the fundamentals,” Terris said. “When our players stick to the basics and play hard, smart football, they are going to be successful most of the time.” They proved it on Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs rallied from a 14-7 deficit at halftime to defeat the Nova Scotia Buccaneers 30-20 in a Maritime Football League game at Woody Hayes Memorial Field at Harrison Trimble High School. The victory gives the Mustangs sole possession of second place with a 2-1-1 record. The game was Moncton’s first on home turf after opening the season with three straight road games. “Our guys were very excited about playing at home, in front of the home fans and all of the hype that surrounded the game,”Terris said. “There was a lot of social media talk about the game all week and it was on (Rogers) TV so it led to a lot of excitement,”the coach added. "It meant we did somethings we don’t normally do. Our excitement led to some penalties, especially on defence, and it hurt us. A couple of times, we’d stop them on a third down, but get a penalty so they got to extend their drives.” The Mustangs scored on their first drive of the game, but the Buccaneers stormed back to take a seven-point lead into the break. Terris said he and the coaches delivered a simple message at halftime. “Let’s get back to the fundamentals,” the head coach said.“We only practise twice a week so you can’t install complicated schemes and big plays. “You just have to go back to the fundamentals. Let’s move the ball, protect the ball and score when we get the chance. The message is pretty clear and it’s pretty simple. Once we got to basics, things went our way and the guys were feeling good about the way things went at the end of the game.” Aubrey Ellis ran for a pair of touchdowns for the Mustangs, who have been rejuvenated after missing the playoffs last season. Torry Hicks caught a 24-yard pass from Dan Comfort for a major. Comfort also scored a touchdown on a quarterback keep. Adam Shea kicked all four converts. Linebacker Nathan Gautreau recorded a safety to round out the scoring. The Buccaneers are fourth in the league standings wit a 1-2-0 record. The Mustangs don’t play again until July 9, when they host the third-place Capital Area Gladiators of Fredericton, who are 1-1-1. Game time is 4 p.m. at Woody Hayes Memorial Field. The Saint John Wanderers, who were idle this weekend, lead the standings with a 3-0-0 record. The Prince Edward Island Privateers are in the basement with an 0-3-0 mark.
Capital Area Gladiators get first win on game’s last play June 18, 2016 9:00 PM ADT LEIGH WATSON Fredericton Daily Gleaner FREDERICTON, NB - Two weeks after having a victory snatched away in the dying seconds of a game, it was the Capital Area Gladiators’ turn to deliver some heartbreak. Nathan Heather earned a single point by booting the ball out the side of the end zone on the final play, allowing the Gladiators to squeak by the P.E.I. Privateers 23-22 in Maritime Football League action Saturday evening at Scotiabank Park North. It was the Capital Area squad’s first win after a season-opening loss to the Saint John Wanderers and a June 4 tie against the Moncton Mustangs who scored with five seconds remaining to spoil the Gladiators’ home opener. The Privateers drop to 0-3. “A win’s a win,” concluded Capital Area head coach and defensive lineman Dan McCullough. “We needed a win. We couldn’t handle another tie.” McCullough said his team showed a lot of grit and character by rallying back after trailing P.E.I. 15-0 and 22-7. “(Against) Moncton, we were playing lights out the first half and we got lackadaisical. (Saturday), we started out...it was a flatline. We were dead. But finally we got a bit of a spark.” The visitors jumped on top just 3:30 into the game when quarterback Christopher Mutch fired a 19-yard touchdown pass to teammate Dave Clark. Not satisfied with its 7-0 lead, P.E.I. then attempted and recovered an onside kick. Soon afterwards, a catch by Eugene McMinns got the Privateers to the one-yard line, and, after fumbling the snap, Mutch ran in his team’s second touchdown with 7:44 to play in the first quarter. The home side appeared on the verge of climbing back in the game when the Gladiators got inside the 10-yard line on their first possession. However a fumbled snap was recovered by P.E.I. and the guests quickly marched the ball to the opposite end of the field. With P.E.I. threatening to expand its lead, Capital Area defensive back Travis Branscombe made the first of three timely interceptions to keep his team in the game, picking off Mutch’s pass from the 24-yard line with four seconds left in the first. A rouge put the Privateers ahead 15-0 with 4:17 remaining in the second quarter, but just over two minutes later the Gladiators answered back. A short touchdown pass from quarterback Bobby McIntyre to Jeff Taylor, along with the point after, made the score 15-7. P.E.I., looking to steal back momentum before halftime, got the ball to the 25-yard line before Branscombe victimized Mutch again, his second interception coming with one minute left in the half. A 40-yard touchdown pass from Mutch gave Clark his second touchdown of the game with 3:05 to play in the third and restored the Privateers’ 15-point lead, but again the Capital Area fought back. McIntyre’s 35-yard TD toss to Heather was followed by a two-point run-in by John Morse and the third quarter ended with the score 22-15. The fourth quarter gave the Island squad another chance to gain some breathing room, but – again – Branscombe wouldn’t allow it, intercepting a 15-yard pass in the end zone and snuffing out yet another P.E.I. scoring opportunity. “You have to want to win, to win,” said Branscombe of his team’s spirited comeback. “I and our defence got beat deep pretty early. The first couple drives they scored instantly, then we had to put a plan together and we just executed on it, changed up our coverage and everything.” The Glads advanced the ball to the 27-yard line before McIntyre connected with Greg Wallace in the end zone, tying the game 22-22 with 6:40 remaining. An onside kick was recovered by the Capital Area, but a fumble returned possession to P.E.I. The Privateers were eventually forced to punt and the home team got the ball back near centre with 2:45 left. A series of carries by Morse chewed up the clock and got the Gladiators into scoring position, and Heather’s run to the 10-yard line left 2.7 seconds – just enough time for his game-ending rouge which gave the Capital Area the 23-22 victory. The play resulted in confusion, as neither team seemed sure of the rule when the ball is punted through the side of the end zone while still in flight. However P.E.I. coach Kevin Zhang left the field satisfied that the officials were correct in awarding the Gladiators a single. “I’m not familiar with the rules, at the end of the day,” he admitted. “I do believe that they had the right call and there’s nothing we could’ve done to change it. I do believe, though, that we could’ve worked a little bit harder, a little bit better... not so much with our mouths, but with our bodies and with our minds.” The Gladiators return to action Saturday when they play the Nova Scotia Buccaneers in Halifax. The Bucs dropped to 1-2 with a 30-20 road loss to the Mustangs (2-1-1) in Moncton.
Wanderers Win on the Road against the Privateers June 25, 2016 7:00 PM ADT CORNWALL, PEI - Big win on the island for the Saint John "Alpine" Wanderers today, 48-21 over the PEI Privateers. The Wanderers offence scored on all but 2 possessions the entire game, QB Jon Golacki threw 4 TDs in the game, connecting with receivers Henrik Tonning IV, Ken Lawerence, Adam Spurrell & Nick Noël. RB Jon Haines had over 200 all purpose yards along with 2 rushing TDs. The Wanderers defence was tested by PEI's air attack yet still came away with 4 interceptions, safety Jonny Roscoe with 2, linebacker Josh Brown and corner Chris Freake each with 1. Another big game for the Wanderers special teams, Return specialist Tyler Curnew brought back a 60+ yard punt return for a TD and Henrik Tonning went 6 for 7 on point after attempts. Big thanks to the fans who made the trip over and showed their support!!!
Gladiators clinch second place in Maritime football loop after pushing Mustangs to third July 9, 2016 7:00 PM ADT TIMES AND TRANSCRIPT MONCTON, NB - The Moncton Mustangs returned to Maritime Football League action on Saturday after a three-week layoff and they showed some rust. The visiting Capital Area Gladiators scored 10 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from the Mustangs in a 24-15 victory at Woody Hayes Field. The win locked up second place for the 3-1-1 Gladiators, who stretched their winning streak to three games since allowing the Mustangs to rally late to tie them 22-22. Moncton (2-2-1) will finish in third place in the five-team league. The Gladiators are idle until Saturday, July 23, when they host the 4-0 Saint John Wanderers. Game time is 5 p.m. at Scotiabank Park North. The short-staffed Mustangs held a 15-14 lead on the Gladiators at the break, but it was the visitors who rallied in the second half to get the win. "They’ve got a huge offensive line and some really big running backs,” said Moncton head coach Jason Terris. “We had some young guys just coming out of high school that had the opportunity to step up, and we just struggled to tackle well. “Their size overpowered us and they were able to run the ball well on us.” Among players not in the lineup for the Mustangs were three of their top four linebackers. Terris said a combination of missing key players and a three-week layoff – Moncton’s last game was on June 18 – hurt them on Saturday. “I think the bye weeks ended up making us a little bit complacent. Our timing was off. We just struggled to practise well,” Terris said. “With the absences and the poor practising, it really bit us in the butt. We’re going to try to set the tone and have strong practices the rest of the year going into the playoffs.” Donovan Boucher caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dan Comfort and Aubrey Ellis found the end zone on a four-yard run for the Mustangs. Moncton linebacker Steve Cormier had a huge game with 17 tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Mustangs rally in second half to defeat Privateers July 16, 2016 7:00 PM ADT Times & Transcript - Dwayne Tingley MONCTON, NB - The Moncton Mustangs didn’t look like winners for the first half of their Maritime Football League game on Saturday afternoon. They were upset with the officials, angry at themselves and they didn’t have an answer for the dynamic offence generated by the Prince Edward Island Privateers. It was a different story in the second half. The Mustangs rallied from a 24-15 deficit at the break to defeat the Privateers 55-51 in the final game of the regular season for both teams. “You have to give P.E.I. a lot of credit because they have a very talented and very athletic team with an outstanding quarterback who can put a lot of points on the board in a hurry,” said Mustangs head coach Jason Terris. “We couldn’t stop them and we were getting distracted by things that were out of our hands,” he said.“Once we regrouped, we settled down and started playing better football. “It was a real barn-burner and it was closer than we expected, but that’s a credit to P.E.I. They’ve got a very good team and they aren’t going to make the playoffs in our league. “There’s a lot more parity in our league than before. In the past, the teams that didn’t make the playoffs were teams that struggled. Now, we’ve got a very talented team from P.E.I. that’s not going to make it.” The Mustangs improved their record to 3-2-1 and will finish in third place. They will meet the second-place Capital Area Gladiators in a semifinal game on July 30 in Fredericton. Moncton was 0-1-1 against Fredericton this season. The Privateers missed the post-season with a 1-5-0 record. The first-place Saint John Wanderers and fourth-place Nova Scotia Buccaneers will clash in the other semifinal game. The league final goes Aug. 6. In Saturday’s game, Steve Fox caught a touchdown pass from Dan Comfort and added another major on a broken play. Fox recovered a fumble on a fake punt attempt and ran the ball 50 yards for a touchdown. Donovan Boucher and Josh Dickinson also caught touchdown passes. Aubrey Ellis ran for a pair of majors. Nick McEachern and Moe Roussell also rushed for touchdowns while Matt Rose kicked seven converts. “We made some adjustments in the second half and our offence moved the ball very well,”Terris said. “We’ve got a couple of weeks to get ready for the playoffs. We think our team has improved a lot this year, so we’re looking forward to see how we make out in the playoffs,”he said.
Wanderers Clinch Home Field Advantage July 16, 2016 10:00 PM ADT SAINT JOHN, NB - 5 straight wins for the Saint John "Alpine" Wanderers in their 2016 season as they pulled out a 34-7 win over the Nova Scotia Buccaneers. An all around team effort for the victory, the Wanderers had multiple highlight plays on both sides of the ball. Offensively scoring 6 touchdowns, running backs Jon Haines with 2 TDs and Charlie Harroun with 1. Quarterback Jon Golacki threw for 2 touchdowns connecting with receivers Henrik Tonning IV & Ken Lawrence Jr. Golacki also scored on a QB sneak from the 1 yard line. On the defensive side of the ball the Wanderers denied the Buccaneers from scoring on all but one of their drives. SJ's Defensive backs had a field day intercepting the Bucs QB 6 times. Marcus Whittingham & Al McGarvey each with 2 interceptions, Tom Making & Tyler Curnew each with 1. Linebacker Josh Brown had an outstanding day with 10+ tackles covering sideline to sideline. With that win the Wanderers clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs! The Wanderers regular season finale is next Saturday July 23rd in Fredericton vs the Capital area Gladiators 5pm @ Scotia bank north field. Hope to see everyone there!
Wanderers End Regular Season 6-0 July 23, 2016 9:00 PM ADT LEIGH WATSON The daily Gleaner FREDERICTON, NB - The Saint John Alpine Wanderers capped a perfect regular season in the Maritime Football League, downing the second-place Capital Area Gladiators 49-28 Saturday at Scotiabank Park North. The Capital Area squad went toe-to-toe with the Port City reps early, trailing by only a touchdown at halftime before the Wanderers pulled away in the second half. The Gladiators scored on their first two possessions of the game, only to be outdone by the visitors, who found the end zone on their first four drives, three of them touchdowns by running back John Haines. “Sometimes the guys rest on their laurels,” Saint John coach Phil Mc-Garvey said. “I think we were able to wake them up after halftime. They got a little more into it and realized that a couple of the big guys aren’t going to pull them out of every game, so we had everyone making contributions in the latter part of the game. “They rallied pretty well, and we’re missing a few bodies, so we had some guys step up and play some ball. Overall, it was a positive way for us to end the season.” Saint John needed just four minutes to open the scoring, as Haines scampered in on a 12-yard run. The Glads answered back two-and-a-half minutes later: Charlie Gallagher returned the subsequent kickoff to the 17-yard line and teammate John Morse later pushed the ball into the end zone from the one to tie the score at 7-7. Punch: a 20-yard touchdown run by Haines restored the Wanderers’ lead. Counter punch: a ball carried by Gladiators running back Morse squirted loose, but was recovered and run into the end zone by Greg Wallace to square the contest at 14-all. After a half-hour delay caused by lightning strikes in the area, Haines ended the first quarter with his third major, getting outside and running into the end zone from 43 yards out to make the score 21-14. The Gladiators appeared poised to pull even yet again early in the second, reaching the 30-yard line before quarterback Bobby McIntyre’s pass was intercepted by Saint John’s Alex McGarvey. Wanderers quarterback Jon Golacki later connected with Joel Seale on a 22-yard touchdown pass to up the lead to 28-14. The next Capital Area drive ended in the same fashion, with the Gladiators reaching the 25 before McGarvey made another pick inside the ten-yard line. A fumble recovery gave the Gladiators a scoring opportunity late in the first half. With two minutes remaining, Turner Sturgeon made a six-yard touchdown run, narrowing the gap to 28-21. That’s the way the teams went to the halftime break. Saint John stretched their lead in the third quarter on Nick Noel’s 25-yard TD catch to make it 35-21. Seale and Charlie Harroun added majors for the Wanderers in the fourth quarter before a 30-yard reception by the Gladiators’ Charlie Dee with 14 seconds left completed the scoring.
Playoffs (Semi-Finals) Sat July 30th July 27, 2016 2:30 PM ADT This upcoming weekend, Saturday July 30th, marks the playoffs (Semi-Finals) for the teams on the road to the Maritime Bowl XV. The winners from the Semi-Final Playoff games move on to compete for the Maritime Bowl scheduled for Saturday August 6th!!! Here are the Games and Locations: SAINT JOHN, NB - Shamrock Park - 4:00PM Nova Scotia Buccaneers at Saint John Wanderers FREDERICTON, NB - Scotiabank North Field - 4:00PM Moncton Mustangs at Captial Area Gladiators
Wanderers are going to the Championship (Martime Bowl XV) July 30, 2016 11:28 PM ADT SAINT JOHN - The Saint John "Alpine" Wanderers are Championship bound! With a 27-7 victory over the Nova Scotia Buccaneers in semi final action earlier this afternoon. Running Back Jon Haines had an outstanding day, scoring all of the Wanderers touchdowns (4) & having over 200 all purpose yards. Defensively the Wanderers played the ball sideline to sideline. Linebacker Josh Brown had 15+ tackles in the win. Defensive back Alex McGarvey hauled in 2 interceptions & linebacker Danny Oliver had a fumble recovery. The Wanderers will now host Maritime Bowl XV -vs- the Moncton Mustangs in what will be one epic championship for the ages. Saint John is looking for their 4th straight title !!!! Kickoff will be next Saturday, August 6th 4pm @ Shamrock Park. Everyone come out and show support for the W!!
Saint John, Moncton to play in Maritime Bowl August 1, 2016 8:00 AM ADT Telegraph Journal The Saint John Wanderers and Moncton Mustangs will meet in Saturday’s Maritime Football League final. The Wanderers, who went 6-0 in the regular season, won their semifinal at home 27-7 over the fourth-place Nova Scotia Buccaneers on Saturday night at the Emera Turf Field at Shamrock Park. Running back Jon Haines scored all four of the Wanderers’ touchdowns, amassing more than 200 all-purpose yards. Defensively, linebacker Josh Brown had more than 15 tackles in the win while defensive back Alex Mc-Garvey hauled in two interceptions and linebacker Danny Oliver had a fumble recovery. Third-place Moncton, 3-2-1 in the regular season, advanced to the Maritime Bowl after holding off the second-seeded Capital Area Gladiators 25-21 in their semifinal at Scotiabank Park North on Saturday.The Gladiators had their chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter – and, in fact, believe they did. However, running back John Morse was ruled to have fumbled in the end zone, and the ball was recovered by Moncton. “I saw the ball cross the plane,” said Glads head coach and defensive lineman Dan McCullough. “He let go of it after, and they called it a fumble. I couldn’t believe it ... it was a very, very badly missed call.” “That was a wild finish,” Moncton head coach Jason Terris said with a laugh.“We’re happy to have made it to the championship, but we’re not content yet. This is a big step in the Mustangs program. We haven’t been there since 2011, so the boys are proud of each other and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us with our matchup against Saint John.” The two teams will kick off the Maritime Bowl at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Shamrock Park. The Wanderers downed Moncton 42-34 in their only regular season meeting on June 11 in Saint John.
Congrats to the 2016 MFL Player Award Recipients August 5, 2016 7:56 PM ADT Congratulations to the 2016 MFL Player Award Recipients. Check them out by clicking on the Awards link on the menu at the top of the website
Wanderers QB puts cap on historic MFL season August 6, 2016 7:58 PM ADT SAINT JOHN - As seasons go, Jon Golacki will have a difficult time topping his 2016 campaign in the Maritime Football League. The Saint John Wanderers quarterback has received the Peter Murray Memorial Trophy, his third MFL most outstanding player award. That honour comes on the heels of the Wanderers’ 47-21 victory over the Moncton Mustangs in Maritime Bowl XV on Saturday, a game that saw Golacki throw six touchdown down passes. The triumph was an epic one for the Wanderers, and on a number of plains: • It was their fourth consecutive league championship, which places them on equal footing with the Moncton-Riverview Mustangs’ dynasty, circa 2007 to 2010; • It was their seventh championship – and 10th appearance in the final – in the past 15 years; • They finished the season 8-0 to run their win streak to 29 games, a new league record; • In winning a sixth consecutive regular-season pennant, the Golacki-led offensive juggernaut established a new scoring standard by averaging 42 points per game. Team president Scott McNamee had nothing but praise on Monday for his quarterback, and what this group of Wanderers have achieved. “It was a fantastic championship for the Wanderers,” said McNamee. “It was a team effort – every player picked up their socks and it was a storybook ending. Moncton came prepared – they tried to shut down the run game and did a good job, but that opened up the passing attack for Jon Golacki. I mean, six touchdown passes to five different receivers. We’re not surprised though – Jon had his best season, ever. We have a great group of receivers and a quarterback who knows how to spread the field. The numbers speak volumes for how difficult it is to contain our quarterback.” Joel Seale caught two Golacki TD passes while Adam Spurrell, Henrik Tonning, Nick Noel and Ken Lawrence got in on the aerial show with major scores. Jon Haines, the 2016 recipient of the MFL’s most outstanding offensive player, rushed for Saint John’s other touchdown. Moncton, which made its first appearance in the final since 2011, was led by QB Dan Comfort’s touchdown passes to Josh Dickinson and Leslie Green. McNamee, a defensive lineman when he isn’t wearing his executive hat, said the calibre of football is improving in the MFL, which will make a“five-peat”a real challenge for the Wanderers. But the six-foot-two, 255-pound former all-star will not be the least bit surprised if the Saint John gridders are labelled the team to beat in 2017. “We don’t have any holes, and with the young guys coming through the ranks to complement our veterans, we’re only going to get better,” he said. “The overall calibre in the league is getting better, so we must continually improve. “But I’ll say it today: we’ll be going for number five in 2017. We share the record and that’s a great feat in itself. But what I find more important than records are the younger players who want to be part of what we are doing in football in Saint John. We’ll have the bulls-eye on our backs, but that’s okay – we’re not looking to be stagnant. We want to grow and we want to continue to dominate. What we will not do is wait for other teams to catch up.” Meanwhile, the dynamic duo of Golacki and Haines led a Wanderers’ parade to major awards – middle linebacker Josh Brown was named the most outstanding defensive player, Marcus Whittingham was selected the most outstanding defensive back and Henrik Tonning was the most outstanding special teams player. Others nabbing most outstanding honours included Chris Mutch of the P.E.I. Privateers (quarterback), Moncton’s Greg Kinsmen (offensive lineman), John Morse of the Capital Area Gladiators (running back), P.E.I.’s Eugene McMinns (receiver), Dan Mc-Cullough of the Gladiators (defensive lineman), Andrew Oake of the Nova Scotia Buccaneers (linebacker), Aubrey Ellis of Moncton (rookie), Jason Terris of Moncton (coach) and co-volunteer winners Chris Gaines of Moncton and Steve Spear of the Gladiators. Eight Wanderers were also selected as all-stars, led by Golacki at quarterback and Haines at running back. Receiver Nick Noel and offensive lineman Kurtis Nicholson also make the grade, as did defensive stalwarts Brown, Whittingham, lineman Rob Fox and defensive back Alex McGarvey. Other players on the all-offensive team are Morse and lineman Frank Devine of the Gladiators, Kinsmen and receiver Steve Fox of Moncton, and receivers McMinns and Dave Clark of the Privateers. Joining the Wanderers’ quartet as defensive all-stars are McCullough and Tyler Doak of the Gladiators, Oake and defensive back Mitch Kays of the Nova Scotia Buccaneers, linebacker Steve Cormier of Moncton and defensive back Adam MacDonald of P.E.I.