Riding high on the strength of two early season victories, the Sudbury U16 Jr Spartans might have been in need of a little grounding.

Turns out the York Lions were more than willing to administer just that.

With the locals having followed up a 52-2 season-opening win over the Oshawa Hawkeyes (currently 0-4) with a 38-14 road triumph over the Scarborough Thunder (2-2), the Jr Spartans returned home to host the Lions last weekend, the latter boasting a record of 2-1 coming in.

With running quarterback Anthony Sookal doing much of the damage, York defeated Sudbury 42-22 as the nickel city lads look to bounce back on the road this weekend, battling the North Bay Bulldogs (1-3) at the Steve Omischl Sports Complex on Saturday.

Sookal bolted his way around the turf to the tune of 339 rushing yards and four touchdowns, with Jackson Fowler (16 carries - 79 yards) adding the final two majors.

The game got away from the Jr Spartans in the second half as the teams retreated to their dressing rooms at half-time tied at 14-14, with Kade Campbell and Moshood Adeleye both reaching the end zone for the home side, the latter adding his second TD in the fourth quarter of play.

Dean Vildis and Emmanuel Abiodun both chipped in with two-point conversions while Lincoln Parent (8 solo tackles; 8 assisted tackles; one fumble recovery), Dexter Mailloux (5 solo tackles; 4 assisted tackles) and Ostin Parro (2 solo tackles; 5 assisted tackles; 2 tackles for loss) led the defense, with Parro missing the entire second half due to injury.

Where the Lions did not attempt a single pass, the Spartans took to the air often and with some degree of success, with QB Kade Campbell completing 18 of 30 attempts for 209 yards, with Michael Bisschops leading the ground attack, amassing 93 yards on 12 carries.

Bisschops accounted for a pair of six-point scores one week earlier against Scarborough, with Kingsten Pitawanakwat also hitting paydirt twice thanks to short touchdown receptions from Kade Campbell.

Trent Maskevich had himself a game versus the Thunder, returning a pick-six 105 yards and also recovering a fumble thanks to a sack from Lincoln Parent, while Byron Marshall accounted for the remaining Sudbury interception.

Meanwhile, the Sudbury U18 Jr Spartans improved to 2-1 the easy way last weekend as the York Lions forfeited due to a lack of healthy bodies, with the elder OSFL team also making the trek to North Bay on Saturday.