Okay, the Kelowna Owls are for real.
Touted by the Kelowna Secondary School coaching staff as a contender for the B.C. Secondary Schools Football Association provincial championship this season, the Owls were in floundering flight trying to live up to high expectations.
But not in Week 2 of the regular season.
Coming off a 14-12 loss a week earlier to the No. 5-ranked (AAA) Abbotsford Panthers a week earlier in which discipline was a major contributor, the Owls pulled off a stunning 10-7 victory over the No. 1 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers in Surrey on Friday.
A toe-to-toe defensive struggle ended with a Risto Zimmer field goal from 18 yards out and the honourable-mention Owls moving into a tie for No. 5 in the provincial ranking with Abbotsford.
The dramatic finish was atonement for Zimmer, a Grade 11 receiver/defensive back who missed a potential winning field goal in the dying moments of the game against Abbotsford at the Apple Bowl.
It was anything but routine however.
His first attempt from the 33-yard line was unsuccessful, but Tweedsmuir was called for roughing the kicker while a second try was nullified when the Panthers were nabbed for being offside.
The Owls’ game-winning field goal was set up by Caeleb Schlachter, who not only forced a fumble (recovered by Sam Mason) on Lord Tweedsmuir’s 10-yard line with a tackle but just seconds earlier had caught a touchdown pass from Nate Beauchemin that covered 56 yards (Zimmer converted to tie the game at 7-7).
Beauchemin had made his season debut at quarterback early in the fourth quarter, taking over from starter Isaac Athans after Tweedsmuir had scored a touchdown on a 20-yard run by Tremel States-Jones.
Also in Grade 11 and the QB for the junior varsity Owls who won a provincial championship last season, Beauchemin was good on four of eight passes for 84 yards in his short stint.
“We made the switch to change the look and see if we could gain some momentum,” explained Owls’ head coach Chris Cartwright. “It turned out for the best.”
One of the areas Cartwright and his staff didn’t have to tinker with was the Owls’ defence. It narrowly got the better of the battle against an equally vaunted Panthers defence that had led the team to a 2-0 record in the preseason and a win (27-0 over Terry Fox) in their regular-season debut.
“Our defence played an incredible game again to keep us in it and give us an opportunity to win,” said Cartwright. “They filled the gaps and covered very well . . . players just doing their job and doing it well is what led to our success.”
Linebacker Nathan Gilbert again set the example with five tackles and a sack while Nick Tonogai was a blanket in the secondary and Tariq Brown picked off a Tweedsmuir pass.
Offensively, it was no surprise the Owls had a tough time against the stellar Panther defence. While Nolan Ulm caught six passes for 65 yards, KSS managed just that many yards total along the ground.
Cartwright conceded the team expects more from its offensive line.
“We need to be better there to establish a running game and create consistency and diversity overall on offence.”
The early rollercoaster ride that’s seen his shorthanded Owls lose to then No. 1 Vancouver College Fighting Irish 34-7, defeat the Rutland Voodoos 42-0 and lose to Abbotsford on home field, has been a fun journey according to coach Cartwright.
“Our group has been through the extremes of football the past four weeks, so we were very excited for our boys and their win against Lord Tweedsmuir. The learning and the process is real — we’re looking forward to what’s ahead.”
Up next for the Owls is an Eastern Conference showdown in Burnaby with the 2-0 St. Thomas More Knights who defeated Terry Fox 21-11 on Friday and opened with an 18-6 win over Mission in their opening game.
The Owls are back at the Apple Bowl on Oct. 11 when they play host to the Centennial Centaurs of Coquitlam.
Already with scholarship offers from seven Canadian universities — including the UBC. and Simon Fraser — Jhavoun Blake can expect more wooing this week.
The Grade 12 Rutland Secondary School running back/defensive back touched the ball just six times but gained 256 yards and scored four touchdowns in the Voodoos’ 54-0 Pacific Division (South) manhandling of the Sullivan Heights Stars at the Apple Bowl.
Blake’s pair of TD runs — 60 and 90 yards — in the first quarter was more than enough for the Voodoos to open the B.C. Secondary Schools Football Association regular season on a winning note.
He added another touchdown run of 35 yards in the third quarter and closed out his outstanding performance on the receiving end of a 71-yard pass-and-run play with quarterback Liam Attwood for yet another major.
Meanwhile, Attwood finished the Voodoos’ waltz with three touchdown passes — to Blake, Ryan Dovedoff (31 yards) and Coltin Peterson (25 yards) — and was good on six of 11 tosses for a 196-yard total. The Grade 11 pivot chipped in with 85 yards rushing on four carries and ran over for a 54-yard TD run.
Brad Koebel continued to display his versatility by running three times for 53 yards and a touchdown while chasing down Stars for three tackles from his strong safety position.
The Voodoos’ Dan ‘The Train’ Tran led all tacklers with eight takedowns and was the best offensive lineman according to head coach Pete McCall who also revealed Tran was playing with two sore shoulders.
Grade 10 linebacker Kai Brydon came up big once more, contributing seven tackles, forcing a fumble and making a tackle on the one-yard line to preserve the Voodoos’ shutout.
“We preach hustle at Rutland and that play is going into the manual,” said coach McCall, who also praised the play of the Sullivan Heights team, in only its second season of AAA play.
“Sullivan Heights had a travel delay and was affected by that,” added McCall. “But they showed resilience and class. You have to tip your hat to them. We’ve all had one of those nights.”
The Voodoos continue regular-season play on Friday when they travel to Vancouver to take on the Pacific Division South Eric Hamber Griffins who opened their season last week by falling 20-6 to the Pacific North Earl Marriot Mariners of Surrey.
Rutland’s next home game is set for Oct. 11 at the Apple Bowl against the West Vancouver Highlanders beginning at 6:30 p.m.
In other Pacific Division South play on the past weekend, the Mt. Boucherie Bears won Game 1 of their regular season, defeating the Sardis Falcons 32-19 in Sardis.
The Bears will be at home (Mar Jok in West Kelowna) against Eric Hamber on Oct. 12 beginning at 2 p.m.
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