All three local football squads will be looking for their first regular season wins in B.C. high school action this weekend.
The Mt. Boucherie Bears, KSS Owls and Rutland Voodoos, all at 0-2 in the Eastern Conference, will be at the friendly confines of the Apple Bowl on Friday.
At 4 p.m., the Bears will host the Centennial Centaurs.
Then at 6:30, the Owls and Voodoos will meet head-on, in an all-Kelowna matchup.
“It should be a good one,” Voodoos coach Peter McCall said. “We haven’t beaten (the Owls) in four years, so the guys are excited to play.”
In action from last Friday night:
• Terry Fox 59 Mt. Boucherie 28
The Bears were dead even with the Ravens 28-28 at half time at the Apple Bowl, but then turnovers threw a wrench in Boucherie’s plans. The Bears lost three fumbles and threw an interception in the second half, leading to 31 unanswered points by Fox.
“We were doing fine, moving the ball well and then we get into turnover trouble,” said Bears’ coach Mike Godwin. “A few sloppy minutes, that was the difference.”
The Bears, led by quarterback Ben Minaker, had their best passing performance of the season with 367 yards. Minaker scored once along the ground and threw three TD passes—two to Spencer Humes and one to MacKenzie Johnston.
A young team with just five Grade 12 starters, the Bears have also run into injury problems early in the season with eight players currently on the sidelines.
• Centennial 42 KSS Owls 27
The Owls fell behind early against the Centaurs in Coquitlam, but pushed back late in the game to make things interesting.
Trailing 34-13, Shawn Gordon threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes—one each to Parker Simson and Adam Dibiase—to pull the Owls to within seven points.
But a late score by Centennial would boost the Centaurs to the 42-27 win.
The Owls turned in a couple of big plays as Dibiase found Simson with a 70-yard TD pass, while Seth Campbell returned a kick off 79 yards for a major.
On defense, Elias Rodriguez made five tackles, while Devon Hood had four tackles and an interception.
• St. Thomas More 41 Rutland 7
The Voodoos hung tough with the visiting Knights trailing just 13-7 at the half .
But Rutland couldn’t stop Malcolm Lee who scored all six touchdowns for STMC, including four in the second half.
Still, Rutland head coach Peter McCall was pleased with his team’s effort against the fourth-ranked Knights.
“We prepared our guys well, they bought in, and played just fearless against a really good team,” McCall said. “It was a huge improvement over (a 52-0 loss) to Terry Fox the week before.”
Quentin McDowell scored Rutland’s lone TD on a two-yard run. Mitch Walz passed for 158 yards, while safety Matt Walz had eight tackles and two interceptions on defense.
