The Spartans will begin pursuit of their fourth straight Papa John’s P.E.I. Bantam Tackle Football League championship on Friday. The Cornwall Timberwolves, who have 18 returnees this season, will visit Eric Johnston Field for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
“They (Timberwolves) have a great coaching staff down there and they have been developing a good bantam program, so it will be a very close game,” said Spartans defensive co-ordinator Jeff MacDonald. “Our guys will be ready, but it’s a little different taking your game from the practice field to the game field, so you can expect some mistakes this early in the season.”
Returnees
The Spartans have 11 returnees on their 35-player roster, and the coaching staff is confident the team will be in contention when it counts at the end of the season.
“We have a lot of atom players who have moved up to bantam and we have a number of new players that are very good athletes, but don’t yet know the game of football very well,” added Summerside assistant coach Brian Doucet. “We preach to our players it’s about getting better every week, and we have already seen a big improvement in our team since late August.”
Schedule
Summerside will play a six-game regular season, playing home-and-away games against the Timberwolves, Charlottetown Privateers and Eastern Kings Steelers.
The bantam league features players in Grades 7 to 9.
All the Spartans’ home games are Fridays at 6 p.m. Admission is free, and there will be concessions available.
Roster
Summerside Waterwise Spartans’ roster:
Offence
7. Riley Molyneaux, quarterback
10. Luke Payne, quarterback
12. Justin Caron, quarterback
20. Ethan Lawless, running back
22. Phoenix MacKay, running back
44. Ryan Lawless, running back
30. Arman Singh, running back
33. Zach Blood, wide receiver
54. Jayden Ryder-Clements, offensive line
67. Paul Wambolt, offensive line
70. Connor Murphy, offensive line
75. Isaac Prosser, offensive line
80. Charlie Turner, wide receiver
81. Colin Goodwin, tight end
82. Alex Campbell, tight end
84. Kyle Cameron, wide receiver
87. Blake MacKinnon, wide receiver
88. Ethan Haakman, wide receiver
Defence
21. Sahib Singh, linebacker/defensive back
24. Shawn Aitken, defensive back
25. Luke Quinlan, defensive back
28. Ben Murphy, defensive line
45. Parker Fisher, defensive back
51. Nic Gunning, linebacker
55. Connor Murphy, defensive line
56. Finn Turner, linebacker/defensive back
58. Ryan MacKinnon, defensive back
59. Braydon Lawless, linebacker
60. Jon Quinlan, defensive line
77. Ryan Murphy, defensive line
90. Sean Matheson, defensive line
91. Daniel Tamtom, defensive line
93. Charlie McBean, defensive back
92. Logan Rogers, defensive line
98. Nathan Enman, defensive line
99 Breton Brown, defensive line
Coaching Staff
Head coach – John Turner
Offensive co-ordinator – Paul Power
Assistant offensive co-ordinator – Jamie Matheson
Assistant coach/defensive co-ordinator – Brian Doucet
Defensive co-ordinator/special teams – Jeff MacDonald
Assistant defensive co-ordinator – Paul Quinlan
Assistant special teams – Ken Blood
Sports Editor's Note: A story on the Summerside Clippers' varsity team will be published in Friday's edition of the Journal Pioneer.
