The Ballenas Whalers football coaching staff described Saturday’s rain-drenched contest as a game of field position.
That position rarely approach either end zone.
The Windsor Dukes scored on an unlikely fourth-down pass play to end their first possession, and it held up for the rest of the afternoon as the North Vancouver school escaped with a 7-0 Western AA Conference win over the Whalers on the muddy Ballenas field.
“It’s like we told the guys, the team that makes the least amount of mistakes on a day like today wins,” Whalers coach Dan Smith said. “They made a few more — not many, just a couple — positive executions than we did.”
With just two more games remaining in the regular season, Ballenas (2-3) is now in must-win territory if it is to retain control of its own destiny.
The Whalers will host Frankhurt Secondary of Surrey Saturday at 2 p.m. in their third straight home game, then close out the Western AA Conference season with a road trip to Richmond to face Hugh Boyd.
“We’re in a tough division, a very competitive division,” said Smith. “Sometimes you can get focused on a particular game, but my thinking always is, just keep building; try to peak at the right time.
“If you peak at the right time, a lot of good things can happen.”
Ballenas receiver Callum Jasinski (12) plays role-reversal with Windsor defensive back Ben McMichael, breaking up an pass interception attempt during the teams’ game at Ballenas Saturday. — Image credit: J.R. Rardon/PQB NEWS
Windsor (3-2) peaked early in Saturday’s game, stopping the Whalers’ opening drive and then marching down the field for the game’s only score.
Ballenas appeared to have blunted the drive when they had the Dukes in a 4th-and-five situation at the Ballenas 16-yard line.
But Windsor quarterback Ryan Baker lofted a pass into the end zone that receiver Julien Perri was able to leap and haul in under pressure from Ballenas defensive back Liam Robinson.
“We made some mistakes on defence; I made a big mistake and that’s something I gotta work on,” said Robinson. “As a team, we have to improve our ball control in this kind of weather.”
Robinson expressed his surprise the Whalers were shut out in the otherwise evenly played game.
Both teams had their miscues. Whalers punter Liviano Canil was hauled down when he tried to run on a fake punt at his own 20-yard line, then atoned for the gaffe by intercepting a pass by Windsor wide receiver Ben McMichael on a ‘flea flicker’ end-around play.
Ballenas was led by the running of Dayton Coles and quarterback Ben Robinson, but the team had two lost fumbles and several drives bog down in Windsor territory before turning the ball over on downs.
On the last one, the Dukes got the ball with 4:25 left to play, and Baker kept the ball himself on seven straight runs to take the game to the final whistle.
“On a day like today, you need your best players to make some execution,” said Smith. “They did that. Their quarterback controlled the ball, and that was an advantage.”
