CHILLIWACK MINOR FOOTBALL REPORT: WEEK THREE
Chilliwack’s midget football Giants improved to 3-0, squeaking out a 13-11 win over the North Surrey Bears in a battle of unbeaten teams.
All night the Giants defense came up with big stops and turnovers to give the ball back to the offence. However, Chilliwack’s offence couldn’t move the ball against an equally effective North Surrey D. With under a minute remaining, Chilliwack found themselves pinned inside their own five yard line.
With less than 20 seconds left in the game, quarterback Cam Bedore had no other option other than to try a long bomb.
Bedore stepped back in the pocket, looked the coverage off, and chucked it up for playmaker Craig Zylstra. The speedy wideout made an amazing catch over two Bear defenders, made two more defenders miss as he cut back across field, and was off to the end zone.
Led by a convoy of blockers, Zylstra broke one more tackle at the 15 yard line and took it in for the winning score.
— The bantam Blue Giants played their 2011 home opener against the North Surrey Panthers, cruising to a 32-16 victory.
Running back Filip Horak opened the scoring on the Giants’ first possession, eluding several Panther defenders as he raced to the endzone.
Horak added a second touchdown, with Kirkland Kennedy, Jake Creasy and Nashon Douglas also finding the endzone.
Douglas was making his first appearance as a fullback, and made several key blocks in the running game.
Byron Dargatz led the Giants on defense with several solo tackles and a fourth quarter interception that put the game away.
Treyvon Walsh and Thijs Duinveld also had interceptions as the G-men played a solid all around team game on D.
— Chilliwack’s bantam nine-man team played their exciting brand of end-to-end football to near perfection, routing Vancouver 48-12.
A combination of blinding runs and crushing hits staked the locals to a 26-0 lead, and they never looked back.
The Giants return to action Saturday night at 6:30 p.m., hosting the Burnaby Lions at Townsend Park.
— The junior bantam Blue Giants bombed the Langley Bears 38-0, led by dual-threat quarterback Nick Both.
Both was efficient in the passing game and lethal on the ground, carrying the ball four times for 174 yards and three touchdowns.
Running backs Tyler Sprott and Cameron Lampart also found the endzone, while Emerson Smith carried four times for 84 yards. Kyle Helsloot caught a hitch pass and gained 15 yards after the catch to convert a key second-and-long situation in the second quarter. The offensive line was led by Michael Lengert, who had an outstanding day. Kicker Spencer Breslin hit four of five converts.
On defense, tackle Chris Derksen had four tackles and a sack to lead the way.
Breslin and Ethan Mastin blanketed the Bears receivers, allowing just one catch on eight Langley attempts.
Linebacker Cyrus Tommy had two tackles and a sack while defensive linemen AJ Sagrott and Vincent Giesbrecht pressured the Langley QB relentlessly.
After an injury to linebacker Emerson Smith, Helsloot filled in two solo tackles.
— The junior bantam Red Giants were crushed 36-8 by the Abbotsford Falcons, with Jordan Breuker scoring the lone Chilliwack TD.
Austin Penner, Kobe Pool and Emerson and Ayden Harvey were standouts on defence.
The Red Giants face the Chilliwack Blue Giants in an all-local matchup Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Townsend Park.
— The peewee Red Giants dropped a 44-0 decision to the Abbotsford Falcons.
Riley Egan, Andrew Locke, Colin Campbell, Justin Crooks and Hudson Harvey were standouts for the peewees, who worked hard to make something out of nothing.
The Red Giants face the Blue Giants in an all-local matchup Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Townsend Park.
— The peewee Blue Giants battled hard against the Meadow Ridge Gold team, falling just short in a 14-12 loss.
Chilliwack scored on their opening drive with a great run by Brody Porter, but most of the game was a defensive standoff.
Tyler Kermode, Jayden Mourato and Noah Thiessen led the Chilliwack D with sure tackling.
The second Giants major was scored by Evan McCracken.
— The atom Blue Giants won their first game of the season, defeating the Meadow Ridge Knights 24-6.
Running back Colton Holt scored three touchdowns and passed for a fourth to receiver Josh Jannsen. Samuel Mannes also had several carries for the Giants, making positive yards on each carry.
Dhillon Myers led the way on defense with four tackles and two sacks, while Raiden Mastin and Maddy Eyres applied constant pressure in the Knights backfield.
Noah Kling had two very deep kickoffs to help Chilliwack win the field-position battle.
Defensive linemen Liam Perry and Taylor Troyan had standout games while cornerback Theo Smith blitzed his way to two quarterback sacks.
— The atom Red Giants and the Abbotsford Falcons exchanged blows like two angry prize fighters, but it was the Falcons earning a 30-12 decision at Townsend Park.
Both teams struggled to move the ball in the first half as the driving rain and slick field proved to be as strong as any defence that either team could muster.
Both teams traded touchdowns in the second half, until two crucial plays allowed Abbotsford to pull away.
Down 18-12 and on Abby’s one yard line, Chilliwack ran an off- tackle dive, only to fumble the ball and lose possession.
Abbotsford ran a quick sweep to the right, resulting in a 110 yard touchdown run that put the game out of reach.
Despite the loss, the Chilliwack coaching staff was impressed with the defence led by Jackson Saunders. Strong games were also turned in by Avery Ade and Hayden Anderson on the offensive line, Kurtis Flynn at tailback and Blake Goward at nose tackle.
— The atom White Giants played their best game of the year, blanking Langley 12-0 for their first win of the season.
Grayson Frick scored on Chilliwack’s first offensive play, running 55 yards straight up the gut.
Michael Martin scored the second major, returning an interception 45 yards to paydirt.
Logan Buchwitz turned in a touchdown saving tackle, dragging down a Langley runner at the three yard line. Chilliwack’s D followed with a three play goal-line stand to preserve the shutout.