June 20, 2007

"It's perplexing to me right now," said the Longhorns head coach, whose team sports a 1-2 record in Northern Football Conference play after dropping a 27-23 decision Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie. "The way I see it is, we should be 3-0, not in the situation we are right now. We haven't found a way to win the close ones. I'm trying to find positives out of it... as much as it's disconcerting, (the two losses) are games I felt we should have won and against very good football teams on the road."

Saturday's loss, which came a week after a 24-16 defeat at the hands of the defending national champion Oshawa Hawkeyes, was particularly head-scratching for Emo and his staff.

Oakville piled up more than 400 passing yards -- 283 of which were hauled in by former McMaster University standout receiver Vaughan Swart -- and didn't punt the ball once. The Longhorns defence, meanwhile, limited the Steelers to 29 yards on the ground and less than 250 yards total, and Oakville held a 23-20 lead midway through the final quarter.

However, a number of costly mistakes -- particularly the five interceptions of Longhorns quarterback Tommy Denison, a missed 12-yard field goal and a fumbled punt return that Sault Ste. Marie recovered for a touchdown --combined to send Oakville home empty-handed.

The Longhorns had a chance to win the game in the final minute, but Denison was picked off deep in Steelers territory to snuff out Oakville's comeback hopes.

Despite the turnovers, Emo was more than pleased with the performance of Denison, who has won the battle for the starting pivot job over Josh Spanik and Michael Hyatt.

"There was pressure (from Sault Ste. Marie's defensive line) and the situation on a couple of (the interceptions) was where Tommy was trying to make a play, threw the ball up there and needed his receivers to go up and get it," said Emo. "Another time, a receiver didn't hear an audible and we ended up with two receivers and two defensive backs in the same area, and there was another when the ball hit our receiver's hands and bounced into the defender."

Will Mayhew, in his first start of the season, had five receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown. Swart added a 23-yard touchdown reception and Denison scored Oakville's other major on a one-yard run.

Defensively, Michael Borisenko had four tackles, a batted ball and a forced fumble for the Longhorns. Jeff Hardiman added four tackles and Wayne Sliwinski picked off a pass.

Oakville will try to even its record at 2-2 when it hosts the winless Quinte-Limestone Panthers this weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Bronte Athletic Field.