Week 3 of Vancouver Island football action saw all three Cowichan Bulldogs teams play host to visiting Nanaimo teams.
Atoms
Fresh off a disappointing loss last week, the atom Bulldogs were determined to get their first win of the season this past weekend when they played host to Nanaimo Beastmode at McAdam Park.
The end result was a 35-25 Cowichan victory. Touchdowns came from Finnley Bellis, Deven Rhandawa, Austin Shaver and Brett Fifield, with key defensive tackles from Carter Thorne and Liam Freeland.
“The boys came out firing on all cylinders for our first home game,” said head coach Kyle Bellis. “Our whole coaching staff is so impressed by how far our team has come in such a short time. We’re excited for our next game on Saturday against the West Shore Warriors, and to show them how Cowichan plays football.”
Peewees
The peewee ‘Dogs bounced back from a lopsided Week 2 loss to Oceanside and produced a commanding 51-0 Week 3 victory over the Nanaimo Blitz on their own home turf.
“It was an exciting bounce back game after our rougher game last weekend,” said head coach Justin Young.
Junior Bantam
The JB Bulldogs fell 24-0 to the Nanaimo Seahawks at McAdam Park this past weekend.
“It was a tough loss at home for our team,” said head coach Trystan Ryder. “We are dealing with some early season adversity.”
Starting centre Marshall Johnson is on the mend from an elbow injury that has forced Ty Bartilucci to step in and fill the role.
“He did his best at this very difficult position,” Ryder noted. “The offensive line struggled to maintain their blocks, but is a work in progress and we will continue to get better.”
Ryder said Jesse Prest and Wesley Heppell ran the ball with a great mix of speed and power, unfortunately they couldn’t quite punch the ball into the end zone.
On defence, linebacker Landen Laver had a great game, along with Bartilucci as defensive end. Safety, Mica Kendrick did his best to shut things down in the defensive secondary, and came up with some big tackles to keep the score close in the first half.