Chilliwack’s bantam Giants made a statement in a Friday night football game against the Abbotsford Falcons, bombing the visitors 42-6 at Townsend Park.
The first place Giants came into the game 5-0, facing a second place Abbotsford team with just one blemish on its record (4-1).
Quarterback Hunter Larocque guided the Chilliwack offence, going five-of-nine passing for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
Larocque found the endzone twice on his own, scrambling nine times for 81 yards.
His TD tosses went to Thijs Duineveld and Colton Derouin.
Running back Nashon Douglas helped out with 10 carries, 65 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas Heuser and Cam Lampart combined for another 70 rushing yards.
On the other side of the ball, the game matched Chilliwack’s top ranked defence against Abby’s top ranked offence.
It was no contest.
The Giant D yielded just seven first downs the entire game, led by hard-hitting inside linebackers Jace Harden and Mike Folland.
They shut down Abby’s inside running game, with help from outside linebacker Rajah Sandhu and defensive lineman Chris Derksen.
Chilliwack recovered three fumbles and produced two interceptions, with Heuser and Larocque grabbing errant Abby passes.
Lane Levesque, Lampart and Emerson Harvey had the fumble recoveries. Cornerback Cole Wood also had an outstanding game.
With the win, the Giants clinched first place and a home playoff date with an opponent to be determined.
“This is an excellent team and the boys have become a family and play as one,” said head coach Mike Derksen. “Words cannot say how proud we are as coaches with this team and how focused they have become.”
— The midget Giants took over second place with a 38-21 win over the North Surrey Bears.
Chilliwack’s passing game was functioning to perfection in this one. Well protected by linemen Brennen Breuker, Paul Anghel, Reid McMorris, Carson Allinott and Clayton Cullen, quarterback Klay Larocque threw a touchdown toss to Jake Creasey just four minutes in.
North Surrey’s next possession ended with a fumble, forced by Michael Popovici and recovered by Brandon Tooke.
Larocque made them pay right away, sailing another pass to Creasey for the second Chilliwack major. Deion Bain scored the third Giant touchdown, out-running the Bears D to make the score 21-0.
Perry Ross forced another Bears fumble, which was recovered by Richard Avery.
Two plays later, Larocque hooked up with Robert Begg and Chilliwack had a four TD lead. Owen DeVries booted all four converts.
The Bears cut the lead in half in the third quarter, but their momentum was squashed with another fumble, forced by Popovici.
Bain scored the final Chilliwack major, and Devries added a late field goal to wrap up the scoring.
— The peewee Blue Giants picked up their second win of the season on Saturday, taking an 18-0 home field win over the Langley Bears.
Great blocking by running back Kurtis Flynn and wideouts Liam Dallas and Trei Lindstrom helped spring Quinn Venier for three touchdowns. Quarterback Hudson Harvey and running back Nick Butler added 75 yards of combined offence, along with a couple of sacks on defence.
The Giants D was solid with two interceptions by Cole Hurst, and outstanding play by linebacker Colton Holt. Jayden Okoth, Thomas Lafond and Nathan McInnis came up with several big tackles.
The peewees play a must win game Saturday in Meadow Ridge, trying to keep their playoff hopes alive.
