After the Cowichan Bulldogs won the first meeting of the midget football season between the Island rivals, the Comox Valley Raiders were ready for revenge when the teams met again last Sunday.
Once considered a pushover in the Vancouver Mainland Football League, the Raiders are near the top of the standings this year, and improved to 3-1 by beating the Bulldogs 24-14. Cowichan coach Tim Maertz felt that the first half belonged to his team, although the game got away from them in the second half.
“I thought we started well,” he said. “We dominated the first half, even though we got scored on first. We kept the guys focused and on the next possession we basically marched right back and tied the game up.”
Cowichan quarterback Carson Maertz scored his team’s first touchdown in a six-yard quarterback keep. John Nantais added another first-half major on a 25-yard reception.
Comox started to play better in the second half, while the Bulldogs were flustered.
“We lost our focus and started to self-destruct,” coach Maertz said.“We’ve got lots of things we need to focus on mentally.
“If you take away the way the officiating was and look at the unnecessary stuff on the sidelines, we played a good game of football. All the distractions mixed in didn’t help us.”
The midget Bulldogs will play their last regular-season home game this Sunday when they host Meadow Ridge at McAdam Park, kicking off at 1:30 p.m.
“We’ve gotta bounce back,” Maertz said. “I believe in these guys and what they’re capable of. They’re all good athletes. We need to stick together and keep moving forward.”