The junior bantam and peewee Cowichan Bulldogs both had to contend with wet, muddy, sloppy conditions as they took on the Comox Valley Raiders on the road last weekend, but both teams had strong outings regardless.
The junior bantams got two early touchdowns from Jordan Russell, and came home with a 24-13 win over the hometown Raiders. The Bulldogs swept the ball to Russell on their first two offensive plays from scrimmage, and he delivered with long touchdown runs.
The Raiders responded by using their strong running game to challenge the Bulldogs, but the Cowichan defence was up to the challenge and held the hosts to just two touchdowns. Ultimately, two special teams touchdowns made the difference for the Bulldogs: a kickoff return by Jesse Kwasny and a punt return by Isaiah Doughty.
“This game forced the team to deal with a lot of adversity, some expected, and some unfortunate,” co-coach PJ Shea said. “As with the previous games, we will build on the good things that we did, and address the things that we need to improve.”
The peewee Bulldogs defence played their best game of the season, while the offence was also much improved over the previous week.
“The coaching staff and myself are extreme proud of how the peewees played this week,” head coach Opie Williams said.
The Cowichan defence allowed only six points in the first half and none in the second, making several team tackles and working hard to get everyone to the ball. Comox’s second touchdown came from a fumble by first-time Cowichan quarterback Cayden Summer.
Summer did take advantage of a QB bootleg play for a great solo run, and Lennex Weber made a big impact on the running game in his return to the lineup, particularly when he followed Jayden (Big D) Strom-Bell and cut back against the grain.
The peewee and junior bantam Bulldogs will travel to Westhills Stadium this Sunday to face the Victoria Spartans.
The Cowichan bantams have another weekend off.