For the only time in 2016, all three Abbotsford senior varsity high school football teams hosted games on the same day.
Here are the results from the local gridirons on a stormy Friday:
ROBERT BATEMAN TIMBERWOLVES:
Bateman‘s scoreboard lost power sometime in the second quarter, which was about the same time that the Timberwolves offence lost its spark as they fell 28-12 to the Argyle Pipers.
The Wolves scored a safety early, and quarterback Aiden McDonald scored a touchdown on fourth and goal to give Bateman a 9-0 lead in the second quarter. The club added a field goal to go up 12-0 with 8:30 left, but Argyle got on the board late with a 30 yard touchdown pass and carried the momentum into the second half.
Argyle returned the second half’s opening kick off, and dominated play to win 28-12.
“We started off strong and played well in the first quarter,” said Bateman head coach David Mills. “But they had a bounce go their way with the touchdown at the end of the half and they got the momentum and never gave it back.”
Mills said his team was winning the battles at the lines early on, but that didn’t continue.
“The second half they took over and our guys didn’t respond,” he said. “They wanted it more.”
He said his players need to show more intensity if they want to win.
“We can’t just show up and expect to have things go our way,” he said. “We need more grit and intensity and to be much sharper on offence.”
Bateman’s record is now zero wins and two losses in AA action this season.
ABBOTSFORD PANTHERS:
The Panthers continued to make the transition from AA to AAA look easy, with a 62-14 win over the Earl Marriott Mariners.
Samwell Uko continued his strong season by scoring on a 65 yard touchdown to open the game, and the Panthers defence scored off of turnovers on the Mariners next three possessions.
Jacob Lakey scored twice and Sahil Sahota scored the other major.
Uko had three touchdowns in total, with Tanner Marquardt and Luke Smutzko also scoring on offence.
The Panthers are now 2-0 in regular season play, and 6-0 this year overall.
W.J. MOUAT HAWKS:
The Hawks offence sputtered all game against the St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights, and they lost 35-6.
The Knights running game pounded the Hawks defence for much of the first half, and they built up a 21-0 lead by the second quarter. STMC added a pick-six. but Chavis Spenser got the Hawks on the board with a 50 yards plus touchdown reception.
STMC added a major late in the third to reach 35 points.
Hawks head coach Travis Bell said his team had difficulty putting points on the board.
“We were pretty anemic on offence,” he said. “We couldn’t move the ball offensively. On defence we weren’t able to stop their power in the first half, but in the second half we were able to clean that up and limit them.”
The Hawks record drops to one win and three losses with the setback. They take on Kelowna’s Mt. Boucherie next week.
For more on all the games, read Wednesday’s print edition of the Abbotsford News.
