The junior bantam Chilliwack Blue Giants continued their winning ways this past Saturday with a thrilling 12-0 victory over the visiting Mission Niners. Led by Nat Oenema, Jacob Butler, Eric VanderWerff and Nathan Stuppard, the defence shut down Mission’s running game. Ben Madsen came up with two interceptions and Ryan Clayton was a standout in the secondary.
Offensively, quarterback Gabe Olivares hooked up with wideout Brody Van Velze for a 30-yard touchdown strike.
Running backs Mitchell Byrne and Emilo Pineda both had strong games. Pineda scored the second Chilliwack major on a 50-yard run.
— The junior bantam Red Giants lost a defensive struggle with the Meadow Ridge Knights, falling 16-0. The Gaints yielded a first quarter touchdown, then didn’t let the Knights cross midfield again muntil late in the game.
The defensive line, led by Jaren and Michael Lengert, kept the Knights at bay, with help from hard-hitting linebackers Ethan Mastin and Haden Oraschuk. Defensive back Austin Kardux came up with several tackles and an interception.
“With only 17 players dressed for the game, I was impressed with how every player rose to the occasion,” said head coach Dave Janzen. “Several players had to play iron man football, and it was great to see the true character of our team shining through.”
— The peewee Blue Giants surrendered only six points, but it was six too many in a 6-0 loss to the Mission 9ers.
The Chilliwack D was solid, with Noah Kling anchoring the line and Nathan McInnis providing some solid tackles from his cornerback position.
Cole Hurst came up with an interception.
Offensively, quarterback Hudson Harvey had a 55 yard run and Kurtis Flynn had a 25 yard scamper. Liam Dallas came up with a big catch late in the fourth quarter to keep Chilliwack’s hopes alive, but Mission’s D made one final stand to preserve the win.
— The atom Blue Giants lost an 18-12 nailbiter to the Mission 9ers.
Chilliwack running back Grayson Frick opened the scoring with a 60-yard run, but Mission came back with 18 unanswered points.
Down 12-6 with less than two minutes to play in the first half, Chilliwack had the ball at the Mission two yard line, but couldn’t punch it in.
The Blue Giants defence kept the 9ers off the board in the second half, led by Conner Rushlow and Blake Goward. Dayton Rogers had a quarterback sack.
Kaleb Reemeyer scored the second Chilliwack major on a one-yard plunge and Ross Toews added a few big runs.