Atom
The Cowichan Bulldogs atoms won a Week 6 thriller on Saturday, May 11, ousting the Saanich Wolverines 19-14 on the road.
All told, Cowichan combined for 210 total yards on 71 yards passing and 139 yards rushing.
Quarterback Finn Bellis and receiver Deven Randhawa both had touchdowns while Brett Fifield had a 20-yard catch and run into the end zone as well. Austin Shaver added one conversion.
On defence Dub Singh, Liam Freeland and player of the game Noah Atchison were on fire with four, seven-and-a-half, and eight-and-a-half tackles respectively.
The atom Bulldogs are now 3-2 on the season.
“The boys played hard and Saanich made them work for the win,” said coach Kyle Bellis. “The team, which is composed of mostly first time players, has grown significantly this season and it’s been fun watching them come together as a team and accomplish great things.”
Peewee
After going down early, the Cowichan Bulldogs peewee group stormed back to beat the undefeated Saanich Wolverines 30-16 on Saturday at Copley Park, giving Saanich their first loss of the season. Both Saanich and the Bulldogs now sit at 4-1 on the season.
Justin Jack Thomas led the way, playing electric football, while Devon Thomas and Rylend Monti were fire on defence.
Harrison Plaxton, Charlie Freeman, and Carter Bouchard also figured in on some highlight plays.
“This was a complete team effort and I cannot stress how proud of our boys I was,” said head coach Justin Young. “This was a true representation of what we can do when we work as a team and play our hearts out I am so unbelievably proud and hope we keep the effort up and see just how far we can go.”
Junior Bantam
The old adage is true: you win some, you lose some and despite consistent improvement week to week across all aspects of the JB team’s game, they fell 24-16 to the Nanaimo Seahawks this past weekend.
“It was another massive performance by our defence,” said head coach Trystan Ryder.
A pick six by Eli Atchison put points on the board for Cowichan early in the first half.
“He continues to have an outstanding season,” said the coach. “Our D-line was in the face of the Seahawks quarterback all game.”
The constant pressure led to Atlas Ryder, on a scoop and score, recovering a fumble and running the ball 60 yards for a touchdown.
The Bulldogs’ offence is starting to click.
“Our O-line played their best game of the season,” Ryder said, noting the stellar play of centre Marshall Johnson and guard Aylin Canning.
Quarterback Domenic Reeves had time and space to find receivers.
“Kasen Randhawa opened the passing game with a great catch, and yards after for the first down. Mica Kendrick, Wesley Heppell, and Eli Atchison all ran the ball hard but a strong Nanaimo linebacking core was able to prevent a sustained Cowichan running attack.
“Special teams played a big part of our game,” Ryder added.
Oaklan Bourelle lined up onside during a punt, and on his track to recover the ball a Seahawks defender made the mistake of getting in his way. After dispatching the attempted block, Bourelle pounced on the ball to give the Cowichan offence another shot.
“It was a hard fought game, and even though the score was not in our favour, there were many positive takeaways,” Ryder said. “We are very proud of the effort this team put in.”
