The Vernon Magnums ambushed the Penticton Coguars 35-12 in Southern Interior Midget Football League play Sunday at Grahame Park.
The Cougars opened the scoring with a passing touchdown on their first offensive drive.
The Magnums responded with two scores by running back Brett Frankland to grab a 14-6 first-quarter lead.
Penticton started the second quarter with a rare interception of Chad Woodhead and took it to the Magnum end zone for a TD.
Justin Vicklund took the momentum right back by returning the Cougar kick-off for an 80-yard touchdown, aided by two explosive blocks from Greg Hyde and Kyle Olsen-Brown.
Jonathan Roy rounded out the first half with a Magnum ‘Brute Force’ interception, taking Vernon into the half leading 21-12.
The Magnum offensive line, led by centre and game MVP Jacob Tarr, dominated the Cougars’ defence the entire game.
“The Hogs just crushed the Cougars today,”
said line coach Todd Woon. “They were opening up holes all day for our backfield.”
Hyde continued his superb play in the third quarter with an inside 10-yard run for a Vernon touchdown. Kris Boring added another spectacular touchdown by running outside 55 yards.
Taylor Ravenhill and Tyler Wasmuth were good on four of five converts.
Magnum rookie Austen Shaver took a trip to the new Vernon Jubilee Hospital operating room to get his thumb worked on after a great tackle early in the game.
“The Cougars are a very good team this year,” said Magnum head coach Bill Tarr. “Our depth and talent just overwhelmed them as the game evolved.”
In Junior Bantam action, the Vernon Marauders fell 58-24 to the league-leading Kelowna Lions at Mission Park.
Levi Nicholas racked up 205 combined yards and scored all three of the Marauder TDs, behind the solid blocking of Tyler (Ducky) Sova, Hayden McLean, Mike Tesarski, Jett Carey and Daniel Henrie.
Jonah Waterstreet, Carson Labrecque, Kenzel Arts-Roman, and Kieran Webster all supplied key blocks in the scoring effort. Trey Isaac was good on all three convert attempts.
On defence, Jakob LaFlame-Yonkman and Bryce Sorensen each recorded five tackles, Weston Vanderveen had four and Hunter Koopmans three.
Jackson Ponipal had two tackles, a strip and a fumble recovery, while fellow defensive tackles Rodney Boring, Kolton Neal and (Pinball) Reid McKenzie helped contain the line of scrimmage.
Defensive end Tyler Braun, safeties Connor (Torpedo) Forest and Josiah (Mayhem) Gaskell were also solid on the day.
“The Lions are a great team, with some very good talent,” said Vernon head coach Ron Kirschner.
“I am very proud of the way our kids continued to play hard right to the end despite being down on the scoreboard.”
In Pee Wee play, the Vernon Yellow Jackets were blasted 52-0 by the unbeaten Kelowna Lions Sunday at the Apple Bowl.
The first quarter was a defensive battle with Kelowna managing to score a touchdown with a two-point convert late.
The Jackets’ defence did have some standouts in linemen Miles Forrest and Noah Slimmon, while linebacker Trey Winstanley made some exceptional tackles.
“Our offence never got off the ground all day but kudos go to back-up centre Clayton Hamming who had a great day blocking and long snapping,” said Jackets’ head coach Ed Huber.
