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Atom Cowichan Bulldogs lock up home playoff game

Gus Steeves scores six touchdowns in 43-19 win
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It takes a team effort from the peewee Cowichan Bulldogs to stop a Saanich Wolverines ball carrier. (Tammy Chester photo)

The atom Cowichan Bulldogs secured second place and at least one playoff game at home with a 43-19 road win over the Victoria Spartans last Saturday.

The Spartans got on the board first, but the Bulldogs responded with a 58-yard touchdown run by quarterback Gus Steeves. The Cowichan defence took over shortly after Steeves’s second touchdown and never looked back. A big tackle by Vaughn Williams and Pearse Molleken gave the Bulldogs great field position and big runs by Williams and Harrison (Solo) Plaxton set up Steeves’s third score.

More moves by Plaxton and big blocks by Emmitt Ryder, Ben Wikkerink and Josh (Happy) Dadswell set up another touchdown by Steeves to make it 28-13 at halftime.

The second half started out with a 44-yard run by Plaxton and a catch by Deven Randhawa to set up Steeves’s fifth touchdown. Steeves would add one more touchdown before the Spartans closed out the game with one last score.

Plaxton, Ryder and Rylen Heyer were the top tacklers, but Finn Bellis’s airborne touchdown-saving tackle was the best of the game, said coach Opie Williams.

Ethan Lust caught three convert passes and Molleken had one.

The peewee Bulldogs played to a 24-6 loss at the hands of the Saanich Wolverines last Saturday.

“A tough loss for our team,” coach Trystan Ryder said. “We had two weeks of really good practices and we felt we were prepared well. Saanich has a very skilled team, and we were ready for the challenge. Unfortunately things didn’t go our way.”

Mica Kendrick made some big tackles on defence and snagged an interception, while linebacker Aylin Canning was her usual strong presence in the middle.

Canning also scored the Bulldogs’ lone touchdown to cap off a series of punishing runs up the middle, while centre Marshall Johnson set the tone for the offensive line.

All three Cowichan teams are in action at McAdam Park this Saturday. The atoms face Nanaimo White at 10 a.m., the peewees take on the Victoria Spartans at 11:30 a.m., and the junior bantams also take on the Spartans at 1:30 p.m.