If opening weekend of the regular season is an accurate gauge, the Mt. Boucherie Bears and Kelowna Owls shouldn’t have any trouble holding their own in B.C. high school football’s Eastern Conference.
Both schools opened the 2015 campaign on the Lower Mainland and came home with convincing victories.
The Bears and Owls will meet head on Friday at the Apple Bowl. Kick off is 6:30 p.m.
• Bears 32 Centennial 0
Despite a number of penalties and turnovers, the Mt. Boucherie Bears emerged with a shutout against Centaurs in Coquitlam on Friday.
Ty Troung rushed for 152 yards on 14 penalties for the Bears, but also had another 100 called back on penalties. Boucherie only led 9-0 at the half, but turned to the defense for some big plays.
“Fortunately our defense managed to force a few turnovers and pressure the Cent offense into mistakes,” said Bears coach Mike Godwin.
Mt. Boucherie recovered three fumbles—two by Zac Callaghan—and intercepted three passes, two by Chris Smith and another from Taylor Knoll.
Knoll and Nick Kopp each chipped in with a safety for four points.
“Despite the lopsided score, Cent is a pretty good team,” Godwin added. “They have a lot of size and some very speedy and dangerous receivers. Their QB has a good arm, but we managed to get enough of a pass rush that he forced a few throws into coverage.”
• Owls 49 Lord Tweedsmuir 8
KSS got another big effort from Parker Simson who accounted for five touchdowns, 233 all-purpose yards and an interception in the Owls win in Surrey.
Simson rushed for two touchdowns, passed for 99 yards and two scores, and alsocaught three passes, including one for a TD.
Adam Dibiase threw for a touchdown, ran for one, and added 99 yards receiving and a TD.
Sean McMechan lead the defense with eight tackles, with Cole Stregger adding five tackles and an interception. Erika Mitchell had four tackles and 2 fumble recoveries.
“We had a great outing against Lord Tweedsmuir,” said Owls coach Ben Macauley. “As much as the 49-8 score was one-sided, Lord Tweedsmuir was tough and competitive.”
As for this weekend’s game against their crosstown rivals: “We have our biggest test yet coming up on Friday,” said Macauley, “We look to upset the favoured Bears. We have some injuries but the kids are fired up.”
• Rutland 14 Vernon 14
The Voodoos’ third game of 2015 on Friday in Vernon ended with their second tie of the exhibition schedule.
Down 14-0 at the half, Matt Klak returned a kick off 70 yards for a TD on the first play of the second half.
Defensive tackle Andew Becker had six tackles and a sack, while linebacker Dakota Robertson had seven tackles and a fumble recovery.
Elias Gering plunged in from a yard out for the other TD, and had a big interception with two minutes left.
He kicked both extra points and just missed on a 35-yard field goal on the last play of the game.
“With a majority of rookie varsity players, we showed improvement on both offense and defense,” said Voodoos coach Peter McCall. “Still a lot of room for improvement going into our last exhibition game at Fulton on Saturday.”
