The AA semifinals is the next stop for red-hot Bateman Timberwolves, after the senior varsity football club blanked the Windsor Dukes 28-0 at B.C. Place on Saturday morning.
Bateman’s swarming defence was on full display for most of the game, crushing the Dukes running game and guaranteeing the shutout win with a late interception.
The offence shook off some early nerves and capped off a 90-yard drive with a Markus Rauch touchdown catch to put the team up 7-0 at the half.
Quarterback Logan McDonald and the offence began humming in the second half, and McDonald tossed a 44-yard touchdown pass to Sam Davenport in the third quarter to put Bateman up 14-0.
Wide receiver Ryan Sztuhar made it 21-0 in the fourth quarter after reaching to make an amazing grab in the right corner of the end zone, and running back Phoenix Moller dashed 80 yards late in the game for a major to make it the 28-0 final.
Timberwolves head coach David Mills said the defence set the tone.
“The defence played outstanding today,” he said. “They played with a chip on their shoulder and came in and laid it all on the line. Nobody expected us to win this game and we did something no one has been able to do all year – shutout Windsor.”
Mills said aggressiveness was the key to what made the defence so dominant.
“We hit them hard and played them very physical,” he said. “We knew they were going to be running the ball so we had to stop that, and they did that today.”
The Wolves offence was focused mainly in the air, but he liked the balanced attack especially when the offence began clicking in the second half.
“Despite some penalties and drops I thought the offence played pretty well,” he said. “And by having that balanced attack with Phoenix it takes away them completing playing for the pass on defence.”
The Timberwolves now take on the winner of today’s quarter-final game between Prince George and Holy Cross.
For more on the game, read Wednesday’s print edition of the Abbotsford News.
