Andrew Rocha might not have quite the football cache as his younger brother Adam.
Saturday night at the James Jerome Sports Complex, however, it was the siblings who would team up for the game-winning score as the Sudbury Spartans picked up a big 15-8 win over the Tri-City Outlaws in god-awful weather conditions.
The standout pivot for the Spartans (Adam) would connect with the former "AAA" and still European pro goaltender (Andrew) on a four yard touchdown pass with just under nine minutes to play, lifting the homeside to victory.
With the elements very much in play, scoring in the first half was limited to one major, a 10 yard pass from Adam Rocha to Connor Campeau, with Mateo Bedoya sailing the PAT through the uprights late in the first quarter.
The Outlaws got on the board on the opening kickoff of the second half as the ball bounced all the way into the pylon for a single point. Midway through the third, Tri-City wide receiver Brayden Hill hauled in a 27-yard circus catch, the convert giving the visitors their only lead of the game.
Early in the final frame, Sudbury elected to have punter Nicolson Christmas hoof the ball through the corner of the end zone, deadlocking the contest at 8-8 and setting the stage for the heroics courtesy of the Brothers Rocha.
Once again, the Spartans defense was rock solid, with new addition and former Mount Allison Mounties defender Ben Campbell adding strength to an already talented unit.
"A lot of the boys were sending me invites," Campbell laughed, after the game. "They reached out last year - and they kept reaching out."
While there may have been some trepidation in returning to a sport in which he was named as SDSSAA Defensive Player of the Year in his final season with the Lo-Ellen Park Knights (2018), Campbell quickly found his footing in an environment that he has always loved.
"The intensity came back right away," he said. "That was something that I thought, after university, was done, that I could put it away. But in the first practice back, I knew this is where I was meant to be."
"It felt like home immediately."
Having played everything ranging from outside linebacker to safety to defensive end, Campbell was super excited to get a few different looks in his return to the gridiron last Saturday.
"I'm a little bigger now, so sticking with middle linebacker and defensive end seems to be the way to go," noted the 25 year-old who played one each in each position. "They both have their benefits."
"I just like hitting someone every play," he added with a smile. "It doesn't really matter, as long as I'm in the action. With our scheme, I get to blitz a lot, which is sweet."
The Spartans will close off their three game homestand this coming Saturday night, playing host to the Burlington Longhorns at 7:00 p.m. at James Jerome.
