July 9th, 2022: Cumberland Panthers (OSFL U18) 30 @ Sault Sabercats 07

The 3-seed Cumberland Panthers won their first OSFL U18 playoff game this past weekend in dominating fashion, handing the visiting (7-seed) Brampton Bulldogs a 44-00 setback.

Hopefully we get some coverage of that but two weekends ago, the Panthers closed out the regular season with a road game in Sault-Ste-Marie. I've located an article about that game written by Brad Coccimiglio for sootoday.com and share an excerpt of it below. 

Cumberland jumped out to an early lead as Jerry Momo ran the ball 77 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Jayden Bonhomme kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 Panthers early.

The Panthers made it 14-0 as Zai Vaillancourt caught a pass from quarterback Wolfgang Schad for a 45-yard touchdown. Bonhomme kicked the convert on the play.

The Sabercats got on the board in the second quarter as Konner Ritchie ran the ball in from two yards out. The major, combined with the subsequent convert by Daniel Bumbaco made it 14-7.

The locals had an opportunity to tie the game in the third quarter when Lucas Malcolm recovered a fumbled punt deep in Cumberland territory. The Sabercats would get the ball down to the Panthers one, but couldn’t convert on the opportunity

Cumberland then added to the lead in the third quarter when Momo ran the ball 108 yards for a touchdown. With the convert by Bonhomme, the Panthers led 21-7.

After the Cumberland lead got extended to 23-7 with a safety, the Panthers made it 30-7 in the fourth quarter when Bonhomme caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Schad in the fourth quarter.

...

Momo led the Panthers with 198 yards rushing on five carries in addition to a 10-yard catch.

Vaillancourt finished the day with 53 yards receiving on a pair of catches.

OSFL varsity action between the Sault Sabercats and Cumberland Panthers at Superior Heights on July 9, 2022.Brad Coccimiglio/SooToday

Cumberland Panthers Announce 2022 Commitments

I'm enjoying what the Cumberland Panthers are doing on Instagram these days. Similarly to how universities name their incoming commitments, the Panthers are making a point of letting us know who intends to be on their senior university team in the OSFL next summer.

There's a general Panthers account but also one specific to the Senior Varsity team, which is worth a follow.

As for Jaylen specifically, here is his 2021 highlights video.

Back when I was able to attend Myers Riders or Cumberland games simply as a fan, it was often brought to my attention how unusual that was. I'd get asked which kid I was there to watch and the answer of  "all of them" seemed to confuse the person asking. 

But that was the honest truth. I like being able to say that I watched Brendan Gillanders at Sir Wilfrid Laurier prior to his time with the Gee-Gees and the REDBLACKS, for example. Why do we love our "local" REDBLACKS yet make so little effort to support them when they're on their way up?

I appreciate that the Panthers are getting player names and faces out there for a little recognition. For that matter, good on them for continuing to keep the team's name and logo in view during the offseason. There is no downside to this.