After opening the spring football season with a big win on the road, the junior bantam Cowichan Valley Bulldogs continued that success in their home opener last Saturday.
The Bulldogs were outstanding on the McAdam Park grass, crushing the visiting Westshore Warriors 56-0.
“We had a good day today,” Cowichan head coach PJ Shea said. “The athletes were prepared and confident. Today was a great opportunity for every member of our team to have a lot of successful reps. Each player works extremely hard in practice, and it’s great to see them have exposure and successes in a true game setting.”
Running back Finn Shea set the pace for the ‘Dogs, scoring four times on four carries while racking up 151 yards.
“It was that kind of day for Cowichan,” coach Shea said.
Shea and his fellow running backs, Jesse Kwasny and rookie Laine Hogstead, and quarterback Nico Harris all went on long touchdown runs behind the stellar blocking of the Cowichan offensive line.
Harris was making his first start at the junior bantam level, but never looked out of place, scrambling well and completing several big passes, including a 33-yard touchdown toss to Dillon Wilson.
The Bulldogs were just as dominant on defence, holding Westshore to just two first downs through the entire game. Standouts included linebacker Trekker James and cornerback Jeevan Nijjar, who grabbed his first interception of the season.
Cowichan has outscored the opposition 90-13 through two games this season, but they don’t expect it to be like that forever.
“We know what it’s like to be on the losing end of games like this,” coach Shea said. “Because of that, we are not taking this win for granted. We won today, but we are going to have to continue to work, and challenge ourselves to get better. We cannot rest on our past achievements.”
The peewee Bulldogs played their first game of the season last Saturday, losing 49-0 to their Westshore foes.
“It just wasn’t our day,” coach Opie Williams said. “Nothing went our way.”
The Warriors returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The Bulldogs received the next kickoff and appeared to have a big return of their own before fumbling the ball. That fumble was returned for another touchdown, and Westshore recovered the ensuing kickoff.
The Bulldogs didn’t start moving the ball until the second quarter, when they made it all the way to the three-yard line. An offside call sent them back to the eight. Ryder Maertz took the ball down to the one-yard line, but fumbled the ball and the Warriors recovered it. The score was 24-0 at halftime.
“We started out stronger in the second half, but still couldn’t get any flow going,” Williams lamented. We are looking to improve on our mistakes and work on the better ball control.”
The junior bantam, peewee and atom Bulldogs teams will all head out on the road this Saturday to take on the Saanich Wolverines at Westhills Stadium.