Notre Dame Jugglers vs Handsworth Royals

Fri, Sep. 30 at 3:45P, Handsworth Sec, North Vancouver

The Fanatic spread line:

ND-10 at Handsworth+10 O/U 42

Final Score 20-8 for ND. Tough low scoring affair with ND coming out on top for the AAA game of the week. With the win, ND will look to battle Timberline and West Van for #2 in West. Handsworth still struggling to find the Offense, needs to add a passing threat to be a contender, still an outside shot at making #3 or wildcard spot.


Tough to pick a single game this week, as there are some good matchups. But the Notre Dame vs Handsworth matchup is the key matchup for both teams this year. At the beginning of the 2005 season, the Central Conference was thought to be the strong conference. After the pre-season, it is clear that the toughest battle will be out West. With Vancouver College the clear favorite to go 5-0, Notre Dame, Handsworth, Timberline, and West Vancouver will duke it out for 2, maybe 3 playoff spots. A win for either team here puts the winner in clear position to take the #2 spot.

As for the game itself. Notre Dame had a shaky first 2 games, but has looked better every week since. The Jugglers appear to have worked out some of their major weaknesses. The Notre Dame Offense is better than Handsworth's Offense right now. Handsworth recently found some offense in their easy win over Kelowna last week. Ultimately I don't see Handsworth taking advantage of Notre Dame's weak pass coverage. But who really knows what will happen, that's why they play the games.

Notre Dame Offense: The Jugglers Offense is centered around big bruising RB Anthony Rasotto. A steady pound it in the gut running game that moves the chains and keeps defenses honest. QB Brassington has a decent arm, and his Receivers are improving. Lack of speed and height in the receiving core limits their effectiveness. O-line is big but not very fast, good enough to get the job done though.

Handsworth Defense: Been solid so far, has not been scored on much in 3 games (weak sked though, South Kam, South Delta, and Kelowna are hardly a test). If they can stuff the dive and get decent pass coverage, could keep the score in check.

Handsworth Offense: One-dimensional with RB Dustyn Harvey the only threat on the field. The Royals have been unable to punch it in the endzone as defenses tighten up to key in on Harvey. The Royals top offensive performance so far has been a 28 pt output vs a weak Kelowna team. Needs to establish the passing game in order to take advantage of weak Notre Dame corners to be successful in this game.

Notre Dame Defense: Decent D-Line and LB core lead by 2-way player Rasotto. Pass coverage looked bad in first 2 weeks, slowly improving though. Need more speed and size at the corners. If Handsworth sticks to their running game, the Jugglers should have enough here for stop them from scoring lots of TDs.