Heading into the Greater Victoria Minor Football Silver Cup playoffs, the pre-atom Cowichan Bulldogs are on a roll.
The pre-atom 'Dogs closed out the regular season with their second straight win last Sunday, beating the Nanaimo Bombers 24-0 in Nanaimo.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring on a touchdown run by quarterback Jaxon Jones, who followed it up with a two-point convert pass to tight end Jayden DuTemple. Cowichan took it to another level in the second half, when Jones scored again, then passed to wideout Jeevan Nijjar for the convert.
The much-improved offence led by linemen Jayden Strzok and Eston Canning helped running backs Spencer Young, Thoran Koyote and Treyton McCuaig-Jones march down the field, and McCuaig-Jones finished the drive with a touchdown.
McCuaig-Jones, DuTemple and Jones teamed up with Kaylum Billings, Nico Harris, Sawyer Ellison and rookies Koyote, Young and Evan Mayer on defence to completely shut down the Nanaimo offence.
"We are on a tear right now," coach Ted Harris said. "Our team is pretty jacked up and we are full tilt right to the finish."
The atom Bulldogs played what coach Devon Lawrence called their "best game of the season," in a loss to the Nanaimo Lions. In the first half, key blocks from Cowichan offensive linemen Ethan Giles and Wyatt Atkinson were able to give their running backs the time they needed, and Zack Pearson got within a few yards of scoring. Defensively, linebackers Luke Larminay and Cyrus Upshaw were all over the field throughout the first half.
Both teams slowed down in the second half. The Bulldogs scored their first points on the last play of the game, when QB Aiden Lawrence was able to connect with receiver Koda Lang.
The atoms face Westshore in a Silver Cup semifinal this Sunday, while the pre-atom and pee wee Bulldogs have byes to their respective Silver Cup finals the following weekend.