It was a tough end to a great season for the Ballenas Whalers junior football team, as they lost a provincial semi-final game against the Mission Roadrunners 14-6 in Burnaby last week.
Undefeated leading into the game, the Whalers were just one victory away from playing under the bright lights in B.C. Place for the Junior Varsity Provincial Championship.
However, it wasn’t in the cards for the Whalers, who played a heck of a game defensively but couldn’t quite find what they needed on offense.
“It was a tough loss,” head coach Jeremy Conn said. “They caught us on a deep pass and returned a punt for a touchdown, that was it. We played great team defense and unfortunately, we just couldn’t make the plays we needed to when we had the ball. But we had a great season.”
“Looking back to how it all started, not knowing if we were even going to have enough players to last the season, we came a long way. Everyone stayed committed and we did some great things.”
Conn liked what he saw with each passing game and is excited at the prospect of what this group will bring to the table next season.
“We’re going to have a good core group returning,” Conn said. “We’ve got 13 juniors coming back and a great group of players coming up though Oceanside Youth Football for next year’s team.”
“Our seniors are going to be strong too, with a good core returning for them and some of our guys moving up as well. Both teams are going to be solid next season, I’m really looking forward to it.”
