A short-handed Ballenas Secondary School Whalers senior football team was in tough last weekend against the Carson Graham Eagles as they battled it out in their second regular season game.
The Eagles would prove to be too much for the injury-plagued Whalers, handing Ballenas a 35-7 loss on their home turf.
“It was a tough loss,” coordinator Mike Seselja said. “We’ve been hit with the injury bug pretty hard here and that’s never easy for any team.”
“Not having starters in some key positions, both on offense and defense, has been a challenge for us but these kids are still giving it all they’ve got,” Seselja said.
In their previous game, the senior Whalers lost starting quarterback Garrin McDonnell and starting offensive and defensive lineman Steve Martin to injuries.
Pile that on top of the loss of starting running back Matt Price and the Whalers have been hit hard on the offensive side of the ball.
Price also played defense for the Whalers as well, leaving a bit of a gap on that side of the ball, too.
“We’ll be getting some players back soon,” Seselja said. “We’ll just have to step up as a team and try to fill the gaps wherever we can.”
“We’ve been pretty lucky through the years with injuries and this team and now we’re learning what it’s like to have to deal with them,” he said.
They’ll have a chance to heal up a little extra with a bye week this week, followed by a game against the NDSS (Nanaimo) Islanders on Friday, Oct. 30 at Merle Logan Field in Nanaimo.
• In junior action last week: the Ballenas Whalers defeated their rivals, Barsby Bulldogs, by a score of 26-16.
The juniors were in action Wednesday against Spectrum (score not available at press time).
The juniors are ranked provincially, first place in their division and unbeaten on the season so far.
