Vernon Magnums improved to 2-0 in the Southern Interior Minor Football League’s Atom Division with a come-from-behind victory at home Sunday at Greater Vernon Athletic Park.
Second-half touchdowns from Oliver (Wheels) Harkness, with a pair, and Kolter Furmanek gave the Magnums an 18-6 win over the Kelowna Junior Sun Green.
The visitor’s took a 6-0 lead into halftime thanks to a breakdown in containment and an ill-timed shoe-tying by a Vernon defender.
Vernon made adjustments and came out strong defensively, led by the Gruesome Twosome, Shaymus Waterstreet and Nate Goodfellow, who created havoc in the backfield all game long. D-ends Caden O’Dwyer and Leeum McJannet played a strong contain game, Brock (Thunderstruck) Warner had many tackles, and honourable mention was given to Magiver Wallace, Kingston Jarvis and Nathan Hyer for filling in and stepping up when called upon.
The two teams meet again Sunday at 10 a.m. at GVAP.
ATOM
The Vernon Magnum Yellowjackets came out Sunday looking a bit sluggish and never recovered, dropping a 46-18 decision at GVAP to the Kelowna Junior Sun Green.
After going down 16-0 in the first quarter the young team started to find some rhythm behind a great defensive stand lead by Simon Drysdale. Cian Fitzpatrick scored Vernon’s only touchdown of the half early in the second quarter.
The second half told a much different story with the offence lead by Cole Budgen, solid offensive blocking from Ryden Furmanek, Devin Peters, Ryse Williams and dominate running by Anderson Bicknell for two touchdowns showed some real promise.
Marco Harkness provided a good effort kicking on field goals attempts and kick-offs. The defensive standouts where Drysdale, Nathan Rinkel and Seth Hole.
“Our young defence proved at times that we can be a dominant team to respect if we can put everything together for four quarters,” said Yellowjackets head coach Talon Hart, who praised his mostly first-year team for the sparks of dominance against a big Kelowna Suns Green squad.
The same two teams meet again Sunday at 12 p.m. at GVAP.
JUNIOR BANTAM
Vernon Magnum Marauders fell 45-13 to the visiting Kelowna Junior Sun Green at GVAP.
Scott Hoffman was the MVP for the hometown boys, scoring two touchdowns, racking up 155 yards on offence and 14 tackles on defence.
Zack Adkins was good on one of two point-after kicks. Other players of note for the Marauders were Oliver Profili, Dylan Morris, Daniel Drysdale, Aiden Desmarais and Palmer Taylor, all of whom made big blocks for the O and supplied touchdown-saving tackles for the D.
“Our play execution still requires a lot of work,” said head coach Ron Kirschner. “But the boys are coming together as a team and are showing solid improvement each week.”
Defensive coach Andy Stefansson echoed this sentiment with special praise for corners Deagan Zimmerman and Issaiah Grant as well as end Mat Rakos.
The Marauders next face the Kelowna Junior Sun Red at the college field at 2 p.m. Sunday.
HIGH SCHOOL
Terry Fox Ravens 50 Vernon Panthers 6
Jaden Severy scored two touchdowns on offence and added another two on special teams, including a punt return for a major, as the No. 2 ranked AAA Terry Fox Ravens of Port Coquitlam smothered the visiting Vernon Panthers, the consensus No. 1 AA pre-season pick.
The Panthers fall to 1-1 in the exhibition schedule
“This was not a good showing for us in any phase of the game,” said Vernon head coach Sean Smith to Howard Tsumura’s Varsity Letters website. “We didn’t compete as I had hoped and had a number of miscues throughout the game that made it hard to get any flow. We were not prepared to play in the driving rain and struggled to snap, throw and tackle in poor conditions. That’s on me as head coach and we won’t allow that to affect us again.
“Fox is a great team and on the nicest of days, executing at our best, they are going to be a really tough match up for us. They pushed us around all game on both sides of the ball and won the battle in the trenches which is what you have to do in those conditions.”
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Vernon’s lone touchdown came in the first half, an eight-yard strike from quarterback Thomas Hyett to Zack Smith.
Charles Lemay gained 79 yards on 16 hard carries, and also led the defence with six tackles. Liam Alder and A.J. Maher each had four tackles.
“When you lose a game like this, all we can do is watch film, correct our mistakes and work hard to get better prepared for our next opponent,” said Smith.
The Panthers visit the Salmon Arm Golds for an exhibition game Friday at Little Mountain Park.
Omak Pioneers 52 Fulton Maroons 7
Fulton’s annual trip south of the border was a ton of fun with a lot of memories made.
No details were reported.
The Maroons host the Langley Saxons in exhibition play Saturday. Game time is 2 p.m. at Greater Vernon Athletic Park.
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