In a season of surprises, the Valley Huskers produced another stunning result Saturday, dumping the Westshore Rebels 52-38 at Westhills Stadium in Victoria.
Junior football records are hard to pin down, but you’ve got to figure 52 points is a new franchise record.
Two kickoff return touchdowns would likely be another record.
But what’s most interesting about Saturday’s stat sheet is that the Huskers pulled off 52 points with just 207 total yards of offence.
Chilliwack was out-gained 475 to 207, which nine times out of 10 leaves you on the wrong end of a lopsided loss. But this year’s Huskers are a resilient and opportunistic bunch, finding ways to win games they almost always lost before.
Quarterback Julian Wytinck completed 11 of 19 passes for 130 yards against the tough Rebels secondary, serving up three interceptions.
But he connected with Anthony Dyck and Brandon Poulin on touchdown tosses and ran for a major. Rookie running back Von Richardson rumbled for 47 yards on 16 carries and had a touchdown run, his third in his last two games.
The kickoff return majors were courtesy Poulin and Shemar Thomas. Playing his first game for the Huskers and touching the ball for the first time, Thomas ripped off a 96 yard score. Poulin matched him with his own 96 yarder, rolling up 138 kickoff return yards on the day.
The seventh Husker TD came from the defence and defensive back Josh Robinson, who scooped up a fumble and ran it back 51 yards.
Kicker Ethan Homan provided three points on a 29 yard field goal.
The Huskers (6-3) have one game left before moving into the playoffs. They’re on the road in Nanaimo Saturday afternoon taking on the Vancouver Island Raiders (5-4) at Caledonia Park.
There’s something at stake for both teams. The Huskers sit third in the standings, behind the first place Okanagan Sun and second place Langley Rams.
They would avoid a trip to Kelowna with a win and could still finish first overall in the unlikely event that the Sun (6-2-1) lose at home to the Rebels (3-5-1) and the Rams (6-3) lose on the road at Kamloops (0-9).