Grade 10 running back Ethan Greenan ran for five touchdowns as the VSS Panthers shelled the Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops 74-0 in junior football action Tuesday at the Greater Vernon Athletics Park.
Greenan racked up 186 yards rushing and recorded a 55-yard punt return.
Quarterback Kolby Thorpe was an efficient 5-for-6 passing with a TD pass to his step-brother Justin Ruscheinsky on a nice 18-yard strike. Thorpe also ran for two touchdowns.
Roan Reid hauled in a pass from Braden Khunkhun and made a great move around two defenders to get his first touchdown of the year from 17 yards out. Mekhi Mitchell and Tristan Masini-Pieralli rounded out the scoring with interceptions for touchdowns on defence.
The Panthers defence swarmed Westsyde all game long, forcing multiple turnovers and providing the offence with a short field to work with. Jaret Cooper led the defence from his middle linebacker position with five bone-crushing hits and Will Satterthwaite chipped in with four tackles to go with his game-high 89 yards to lead all receivers.
“I’m happy to see our boys starting to execute better and playing with passion,” said VSS head coach Tim Thorpe. “We are a young and inexperienced group but are starting to put it together. To not have one returning starter from last year’s provincial championship team really hurt us out of the gate but these guys are learning each week and are hungry to improve. Credit to coaches Andy Shaw and Aaron Chan for doing a tremendous job of getting the boys to this point.”
The Cats entertain the Kelowna Owls Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. at the college turf.
