The Cowichan Bulldogs football club kicked off their fall seasons recently after nearly a month of practices.
While this week’s games were cancelled due to poor air quality, last week’s games were played.
Midget team head coach Tim Maertz was pleased with his squad’s efforts against the Victoria Spartans despite missing some key players due to illness, or injury.
“We’ve got a small roster full of big talented players, and I am really excited to be able to be a part of their journey this season,” Maertz said.
The first quarter saw the Bulldogs finding their groove, and shaking the rust off. Victoria was able to move the ball to the Cowichan two yard line and threatened to score, but the Bulldogs’ defence came up big and stopped them.
Defence was the name of the game early in the second quarter as well, but the team’s offensive side opened up when Trey McQuaig-Jones had a 25 yard punt return. While they were forced to punt again, after another big defensive stand, Ryder Maertz finally broke the scoring drought and ran a 50 yard QB sneak in for his first major of the season.
Logan Laver scored his first major of the season as well, making the score 12-0 Bulldogs at the half.
“Victoria threw the ball way more in the second half, and moved the ball into our end of the field,” Maertz said. “Our defence stood strong, forcing Victoria to kick a field goal, which was missed, but went through the back of the end zone to score a rouge.”
That brought the score to 12-1 for the Bulldogs.
The defence was led by big plays from Connor Harper and Ben Wilson.
After another run by Laver, a two-point convert on a passing play to Trey McQuaig-Jones wound up the scoring, giving the Bulldogs a 20-1 victory.
Bantam action saw the Bulldogs falling to the Nanaimo Seahawks by a 44-6 score.
“It was a learning curve as the majority of our players are first year bantams, some moving up from Junior Bantam,” said Coach Opie Williams.
Max Lang scored the team’s only touchdown though the team missed the point after attempt. Lang ran for 36 years on 12 carries, with his longest being the 31-yard touchdown run.
Aiden Jeffries and Jaeden Williams picked up the rest of the team’s carries.
Kolten Crook led the team in tackles with four tackles and three assists, while Lucas Laver was a close second.