Westshore Rebels mainland bound for playoffs
The V.I. Raiders throttled the Westshore Rebels 57-7 in Nanaimo on
Saturday to end the B.C. junior Football Conference regular season.
View a photo gallery of the game.
With the win the Raiders remain undefeated for the second straight year, and finish atop the league standings. They’ll host the Okanagan Sun in a semifinal playoff game. The Rebels will play the Langley Rams in the other semifinal, Saturday (Oct. 20) in Langley.
Rebels running back Greg Morris was held to 56 yards rushed, and was held back from the 122 yards he needed to set the BCFC season rushing record.
Raiders quarterback Jordan Yantz threw 14 passes for 226 yards and five touchdowns.
"We were moving the chains; we weren't too worried about getting the ball down the field right off the bat," said Yantz. "We were worried about working the clock and getting first downs and sustaining a drive and keeping Greg Morris off the field."
- With files from Greg Sakaki/Nanaimo News Bulletin
Hawks runner burns Rams
Receiver Brian Dowds caught two touchdown passes and running back Mason Swift rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns but it wasn’t enough as the Mount Douglas Rams fell 52-49 to the W.J. Mouat Hawks on Saturday.
The star of the day was Hawks’ running back Maleek Irons, who finished with a mind-boggling 491 rushing yards on 48 carries. It sets a new B.C. High School single-game rushing record.
“Hats off to Mouat – they played a whale of a football game,” Rams coach Mark Townsend said. “And Maleek Irons, boy, is he ever the real deal.”
Rams receiver Marcus Davis, running back Julian Luis and quarterback Ashton MacKinnon also had TDs.
MacKinnon ran for 34 years and completed 13 for 25 pass attempts for 226 yards and two touchdown strikes.
Davis added a spectacular 90-yard punt return for a major. Callum Duke continued his excellent kicking hitting seven of seven convert attempts.
Swift led the Rams defence with 16 tackles, followed by Julian Luis with eight and Zach Wilkinson and Mitch Pearse with five each. Davis and Pearse also had an interception each.
Belmont Bulldogs edge Holy Cross
The Belmont Bulldogs secured their first win of the season, 21-15 over the Holy Cross Crusaders at Belmont on Saturday.
“We had to temporarily adjust our offensive philosophy due to the loss of our starting quarterback (Court Boice) last week and decided our best shot would be to just pound the ball and control the clock,” said Belmont defensive coordinator Alexis Sanschagrin.
"It probably took Holy Cross by surprise and it took a while for them to adjust.”
Jordan Worth and Sam Varao took the ground-and-pound mentality to heart, each breaking the 100-yard mark and combining to score the team’s three majors, the coach added.
Worth carried 14 times for 103 yards and two TDs, while Varao carried 12 times for 109 yards and one score.
“We basically challenged our kids to go on the field this week and out-physical Holy Cross,” continued Sanschagrin, “and the coaching staff is really proud of the way the kids responded. We are beginning to understand the type of effort it takes to be successful and results like today will help us believe in ourselves even more.”
A strong defensive effort by Belmont resulted in six forced turnovers (three interceptions, three turnovers on downs). R.J. Piche’s eight tackles, including a sack, led the group, while Worth and Brady Lockwood each had four tackles, Worth counting a pair of sacks and Lockwood an interception. Tanner Rempel had two tackles and two interceptions.
The Bulldogs (1-2) travel to Richmond to face the Hugh Boyd Trojans on Friday.
