Ethan Mitchell scored on both sides of the ball as the Vernon Peters Tirecraft Magnums stopped the West Kelowna Sun Devils 49-13 in Southern Interior Pee Wee Football Conference play Sunday afternoon at sun-drenched Grahame Park.
The Magnums broke the game wide open in the second quarter with three touchdowns from Mitchell, all from the quarterback spot. He also stripped a ball, while lining up at cornerback, and ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. It was 25-6 Magnums at halftime.
Running backs Kohl Killingbeck and Jaret Cooper both turned in bold showings, while the Magnum defence showed solid improvement.
On West Kelowna’s next offensive play following Mitchell’s defensive score, linebacker Cooper snatched a loose ball and ran 70 yards for the second defensive TD of the quarter.
Coach Ed Huber was especially pleased with the play of the defensive line and singled out a number of his players who had marvellous days, including Rasheed Hashi, Liam Gombrich, Gage Varney, Nathan Glessing, and Ryland Croswell.
Next up for the Magnums is Kelowna this Sunday at Grahame Park.
In Junior Bantam play, the Magnums lost 52-36 to hard-running West Kelowna.
Carson Heming and Trey Winstanley both had a sack each, Logan Higgs led the team with four tackles and the dee line was strong with Heming and Devin Hofsink leading the way and getting penetration into the backfield.
“It was a great day of learning for the defence and now they head into the week with some stuff to work on and improve for the next game,” said coach Terry Winstanley. “The offence moved the ball all game long and the Sun Devils realized they were in a dog fight from the very beginning.”
Added coach Jeff Anderson: “I was really proud of the offense all game long. They showed me they came to play and never once let up all the way to the last play. The standout players of the game were Zach Smith, Ethan Anderson and Isaiah Ondrik.”
Anderson hooked up with his favorite receiver Smith for three touchdowns while passing for more than 150 yards and running for one touchdown.
Smith recorded 12 receptions for around 150 yards, ran for one TD and threw for another score to Ondrik.
Ondrik was also a beast playing tight end, setting blocks for the running backs and quarterbacks all day long. The O line also did a great job giving both Anderson and Smith time to throw.
Riley MacGillivray had a stellar game running the ball and setting up passing plays.
The Vernon Atom Magnums fell 36-6 to the Kelowna Lions in their home opener.
The offensive line helped the Magnums run the ball for more than 200 yards with Carston Disher supplying 70 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Brady Devries ran for 50 yards and had two pass completions to Brayden Khun Khun for 16 yards. Reid Williamson picked up 25 yards on the ground.
Nate Yablonski recovered a pair of fumble recoveries, while Hudson Kibblewhite earned one. Gunnar Nyberg posted two sacks and two tackles, Morgan Hackman had a sack and a tackle and Dominick Kitzman added 2 tackles.
