The KSS Owls and Mt. Boucherie Bears will kick off the new B.C. high school football regular season this weekend on the Lower Mainland.
On Friday, the Owls are in New Westminster to take on Lord Tweedsmuir, while the Bears make a stop in Coquitlam to battle the Centennial Centaurs.
Under first-year head coach Ben Macauley, KSS posted a 3-0 record in the pre-season and will be led into the season by Grade 12 QB/safety Parker Simson, fellow offensive weapons Seth Campbell and Adam Diabase, and defensive stalwarts Zack Vint and Jack Lawson, among others.
“We are happy with the way the team is coming together,” said Macauley. We have been emphasizing team effort and although Parker Simson gets the ball into the end zone most of the time, we look for all 11 guys to be doing their job Often overlooked is the play of our offensive line, which has been stellar to start the season.”
As for this weekend’s opponent, Macauley said the Owls will be tested by Tweedsmuir.
“They will be firing on all cylinders,” he said. “This is a good gauge for us to see where we stack up in our (Eastern) conference. This is an important game for us as we can’t afford to look past anyone in this very competitive league.”
As for the Bears’ opener, head coach Mike Godwin said Centennial will also provide a good season-opening test.
“We beat them last year, but they look better this year,” Godwin said. “They have some huge guys, some 300-pounders. It’s hard to say for sure when you just see a team on film, but I still expect it to be a contest.”
Here’s how local teams fared in their final exhibition games over the weekend:
• Owls 37 Vernon Panthers 6
Parker Simson was in familiar form as the Owls’ senior scored a pair of touchdowns rushing, including a 65-yard run. He also three a TD strikes, two to Adam DiBiase and another to Seth Campbell.
The KSS defense held VSS to just 91 yards in total offence.
Cole Pederson led the defence with seven tackles and a fumble recovery.
• Mt. Boucherie 48 Rutland Voodoos 3
The Bears (2-1) jumped on top early and didn’t look back against the Voodoos.
Zach Callaghan scored a pair of touchdowns, while quarterback Tyler Toic scored once along the ground and tossed a TD strike to Steven Johnson.
Drew Karlstrom and Ty Truong also scored rushing touchdowns while Luke Vincent scored the other major on an interception return.
Vincent finished with two interceptions and five tackles on defence, while Callaghan and Nathan Humes had two sacks each.
The Voodoos (0-1-1) will wrap up their exhibition schedule on Friday afternoon in Vernon against the VSS Panthers.
