Expansion Cheetahs succumb to Spartans

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI



The season ended on Sunday for the Quebec Bantam AAA Football League expansion North Shore Cheetahs after a 20-12 semifinal defeat at the hands of the St. Laurent Spartans.

In a hard fought and closely-played contest at Dollard des Ormeaux Park, head coach Len Whitham’s troops found themselves tied 6-6 at the half. Jameel Greenidge scored the first of two touchdowns on the day for the home side on an 80-yard sweep.

On their first possession of the third quarter though, the Spartans went up 12-6 before upping that lead to 20-6 early in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Greenidge brought the Cheetahs back to within range on a sparkling touchdown return off a reverse handoff from Matthew John. Late in the fourth quarter, the Cheetahs advanced to the red zone one more time, but couldn’t capitalize. A couple of holding penalties took care of that.

The turning point of the game came midway through second half. With the Cheetahs trailing by six and driving, they sat on the Spartans’ one-yard line, and looked primed to score, but turned the ball over on a fumble.

“I knew as soon as that happened, it would be very hard for us to win the game,� said Whitham. “But hey, that’s football. They were a little bigger than us, but we kept it close, and I’m proud of the kids. Ordinarily, many of these guys wouldn’t have even played ball this year. I believe we should be even better next year.�

After finishing the regular season with an 8-2 record playing in the league’s third-tier Bob Mironowicz division, the Cheetahs moved up to the De La Perralle division for the playoffs. It remains to be seen whether they will remain in the middle division next year, or move back to the Mironowicz division.