The Mount Baker Wild football club had a tough loss over the weekend, dropping a 38-0 decision to the visiting Valleyview Vikes at the high school field.
The Wild held the Vikes to only two touchdowns in the first half, while the Mount Baker offense seemed to struggle all game, according to head coach Steve Lightfoot.
“It’s disappointing,” said Lightfoot. “They’re a good club, they’re second in our league and we thought we had a good shot at them, boys practiced hard, but come game time, we just couldn’t execute.”
The team seemed to struggle on the offensive side of the game, as Lightfoot added that the ball was turned over nine times.
“You can blame it on cold weather, nerves or inexperience, but it’s hard to get anything going when you turn the ball over that many times,” Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot said the defence was a bright spot in the game, as his boys were making a lot of tackles.
Steve Zsillei, the defensive co-ordinator, agreed.
“Defensively, it definitely went our way, but I think 90 per cent of the game we were out with our defence, because offensively we went south,” Zsillei said.
“Every game so far this year, we’ve accomplished something and we’re moving ahead, but in this last game, offensively we didn’t do that.”
The turnovers didn’t help things for the Wild, while Lightfoot said the team struggled to get the ball into the hands of the right players.
“On offense, we got two talented wingmen and we couldn’t get them the ball,” said Lightfoot.
Defensively, Logan Marion had seven tackles and four sacks, while Andreas Guiterrez, had seven tackles and an interception.
Sid Verma had a monster game with 15 tackles and contributed towards two quarterback sacks.
“They played really, really well on defence,” said Lightfoot.
That kind of result is frustrating, especially on the home field in front of a crowd, he added.
“Great fan support and cheerleaders were out, it was a great day for football,” Lightfoot said. “It was cold, but lots of parents were out and we appreciate that.”
It’s back to the drawing board in practice this week, as the Wild finish the season on home field with two more games in the coming weeks.
The Wild will face South Kamloops Secondary School—the top team in the conference—on Saturday, followed by Westside, out of Kelowa in two weeks.
