Chilliwack Minor Football hosted the 2012 U-8 Flag Football Championships on Saturday.
With 11 teams from the Fraser Valley (including Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission and Langley), it was one of the biggest tournaments of its kind.
Each team played four or five games over the course of the morning.
The weather cooperated nicely, with one 20 minute burst of rain occuring at the very end of the day. The downpour coincided with medal presentations, making for a memorable finish.
Gavin Parks, Kenyan Reid, Kaden Anderson, Raphael Trill, Ben Amey, Deaglan Perry, CJ Robison, Yapo Conteh, Myles Merchant-Long and Logan Fast were all Players of the Game for their respective teams.
— An all-local minor football matchup pitted Chilliwack’s atom White Giants against their Blue counterparts at Townsend Park.
The White Giants prevailed in a thriller, taking a 41-28 decision.
Wideout Logan Buchwitz led the victors, finding the endzone for four majors. Speedster Joshua Caverly added two TDs, both on long passes from quarterback Mateo Tuioti.
Buchwitz earned offensive player of the game honours for the White Giants, with Nick Beck getting the nod as defensive player of the game.
The White Giants host North Langley this weekend.
— The junior bantam Blue Giants faced off against Abbotsford’s Black Falcons, falling 36-6 to the first place team.
Chilliwack’s defence did well, holding Abby to their second lowest total of the season.Battling injuries and illness, the Giants got standout games from halfback Ryan Clayton, cornerback Josh Balzer and the defensive line rotation of Erik VanderWerff, Nat Oenema, Jacob Butler, Nathan Stuppard and Warren Rogers.
Making his first appearance on the defensive side, quarterback Gabe Olivares had a great game at safety, making several key tackles and picking up an interception.
Cornerback Ben Madsen snagged two interceptions, bringing his league leading total to nine.
The lone bright spot on offence was running back Mitchell Bryne.He scored the only Giants touchdown of the day on a great pass from Olivares, and had some great power runs against the Falcons defence.
Chilliwack can still clinch a playoff spot with a victory next week, when they travel to Maple Ridge to take on the Ridge Meadow Knights.