The Vernon Blue Bombers slayed the host Kelowna Dragons 32-0 in Southern Interior Atom Football League action Sunday.
Ethan Anderson scored a pair of touchdowns, while Zach Smith and Brady Szeman each added one score. Smith led the defence with two fumble recoveries and one interception.
The Bombers received strong play by the offensive line anchored by Tayber McLean.
“Our defence played another great game and now has gone four games without allowing a touchdown,” said Bomber coach Jeff Anderson. “Standout play on defensive line came from Levi Lee, who was in the backfield all game long, and Isaiah Ondrik, who had a handful of tackles and a fumble recovery. Liam Cyr also had a strong game recording several solo tackles, while Matthew Reich and Daniel Lesik had strong defensive games.”
Liam Glennon was the special teams player of the game by going 4-for-4 on converts.
The Junior Bantam Marauders steamrolled the Kamloops Broncos 43-6 at Grahame Park.
Levi Nicholas had an incredible game, rushing for 156 yards and scoring four TDs. Bryce Goodrich and Carson Labrecque scored a TD each and Trey Isaac was good on 3-of-6 converts,
Jonah Waterstreet ran in a botched convert attempt for a single to round out the Marauder scoring.
Slotback Josh Hyer had a couple of good runs and provided some key blocks, as did wide receivers Jayden Koscielny, Kieran Webster, Kenzel Arts-Roman, Kegan Vickland and James Bertram.
On defence, Jett Carey had six tackles, while Jakob Laflame-Yonkman, Connor Manahan, Tyler Sova and Bryce Sorensen all recorded four apiece.
Defensive ends Keith Jones, Mitchell Johnston and Wes Vanderveen kept constant pressure on the Kamloops QB, while Connor Kaman, Koalden Oakden, Tyler Braun and Josiah Gaskell provided smothering pass coverage.
“Our D was rock solid and concrete hard,” said acting defensive coach Dave Tesarki.
In Midget action, the Vernon Magnums bounced the Columbia Valley Bighorns 54-7 in Invermere.
Greg Hyde jumpstarted the “Brute Force Magnum Defence” with his first of four interceptions which led to an 85-yard touchdown run by phenom runningback Dustyn Schubert.
On the next Vernon offensive series, Schubert scampered 25 yards for another score. Magnum defensive captain Dan Vassberg ended the first quarter with an electrifying interception and run for a touchdown.
The second quarter started with Vernon’s other defensive captain, Jon Roy, sacking the Bighorns’ quarterback on their first play of the second half.
Runningback Brett Frankland took advantage of a slow Bighorn defensive secondary to run the ball in hard for a 15-yard TD. Justin Vicklund then struck with his very first Magnum TD by blasting through several defenders and taking it 30 yards to the house.
The second half opened up with yet another 80-yard TD run for Schubert. Tyler Wasmuth ran in a direct snap trick play for the two-point conversion.
Kyle Olsen-Brown picked off an end-zone pass and scrambled 105 yards for a TD and Wasmuth kept up his own trickery by picking off another Bighorn pass and flying 40 yards for a TD.
In Pee Wee play, the Vernon Yellow Jackets shut out the Kamloops Broncos 38-0, improving to 4-1 for second place.
Issac Olsen once again led the “Big Mac Attack Defence” with 6.5 tackles and an interception. The Broncos’ offence only gained two first downs and ended the game with negative yardage overall.
Thomas Mackewich also had a interception and Tristen Baker a fumble recovery. Kaden Doughty, Miles Forrest, Bryce Turner, Trey Winstanley and Zach Boring all recorded key tackles.
Garret Black-Thomas and Evan Worth scored their first career touchdowns, while Riley MacGillvray had eight carries for 130 yards and one TD, and Zach Benn recorded 87 yards and one score on six touches. Olsen added one TD.
