Two wins and a loss for Cowichan's teams
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It's time for spring football and three Cowichan Valley Bulldogs team are in action this season: the Atoms, the Peewees, and the Jr. Bantams.
Atoms
The Atom Bulldogs met the Southside Dawgs in Week 1 of the Vancouver Island Canadian Football Association season and lost 40-6.
"We are a very young team and new to football but showed so much heart and never gave up," said coach Tyler Gavin.
Christian Murray scored Cowichan's loan touchdown on a long run early in the competition while newcomer Rowan McGarvey ran the ball well.
"He looked very impressive," Gavin noted. The coach also gave a note to both Noah Atchison and Eli Frenchy-Thorne on defence.
"They played excellent chasing down players, including a nice forced fumble from Noah," Gavin said.
The Atom Bulldogs play host to Westshore next week at McAdam Park at 10 a.m.
Peewee
The Peewee Bulldogs opened their season at home, also against the Southside Dawgs on Saturday and though the game resulted in the same 40-6 score as their Atom counterparts, the Peewees were on the winning end.
Four players scored for the Bulldogs: Rylen Heyer scored twice with his legs and completed one passing touchdown to Devon Randhawa. The team's other two touchdowns were on the ground coming at the hands of Felix Bernardi and Carter Bouchard.
"On defence we had a stifling game allowing only one score," said head coach Justin Young.
Defensive standouts included Dawson Sherman with two quarterback sacks. Rylend "Blondi" Monti led the team in tackles.
"As a whole, the defence played phenomenally and I want to give a shout out to all their effort," Young said. "Our offence was methodical and had some good drives as well.
Next up for the Peewee Bulldogs is a home game next Saturday against the Oceanside Lions. Kickoff is 11:30 a.m.
Junior Bantam
Under the guidance of head coach Opie Williams, the Junior Bantam Bulldogs earned a 27-12 win on Saturday.
"It was a great first game for us," Williams said. "Our defence played awesome, forcing a three and out on the first drive which gave us great field position. We tried for a field goal but Kalem missed to the left but we still got the single point. On the next series we pinned them deep again and they gave up a safety."
Eli Atchison scored the squad's first two touchdowns, the first in the second quarter when he broke a run for 85 yards to score.
The Bulldogs went into the half with an 11-0 lead.
On the second half kick-off, Justin Jack-Thomas almost took it to the house but was brought down by a Southside Dawgs player on the 17-yard line. But a backup QB, Kasen Randhawa was intercepted on the goal-line.
Cowichan's defence came up strong and was able to stop the pressing Southside and then Atchison was able to break a second big run for 64 yards for his second major score of the day.
"Southside was able to score midway through the fourth quarter when we got a little sloppy on our tackling but they missed the extra point," Williams said. "We were able to add back to our lead with a completion from Randhawa to Harrison "Solo" Paxton made a great catch and run breaking several tackles for a 60-yard TD. Kalem Thomas made all the extra points."
Wyatt "Skittles" Larkin made a great interception down on the 20-yard line but then fumbled the ball on the return and Southside was able to score the next play.
"The coaching staff was impressed with the way the team played today and are looking to improving on this for next week's home game," Williams said.
Westshore visits McAdam Park on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kick-off.