The perennial Kelowna Owls-Rutland Voodoos rivalry proved to be in good form during a recent B.C. High School Football Association junior varsity matchup.
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A hard-hitting confrontation saw quarterback Nate Beauchemin complete 13 of 17 passes for 180 yards and four touchdowns as the host Owls downed the Voodoos 49-20.
Nolan Ulm caught eight passes for 96 yards and a pair of TDs for the Kelowna Secondary School representatives while he combined with Noah Gross and Caleb Schlachter to rush for 211 yards overall. Schlachter contributed three touchdowns on the day while other majors came from Aidan Vint and Kasian Kayfish.
The KSS offence produced a combined 425 yards.
Defensively, the Owls were led by Nick Tonagai and his two drive-stopping interceptions that kept the Owls’ momentum going.
Jhavoun Blake led the inexperienced Voodoos with 73 yards on eight carries. He also caught three passes for 15 yards and led all tacklers with 14 solo efforts.
Quarterback Liam Attwood was good on 10 of 17 pass attempts for 204 yards and a touchdown. Bradley Koebel brought down five passes for 90 yards and a TD while catching one for a two-point convert. He contributed five tackles and a fumble recovery to the Rutland defence. Prince Manongdo added six tackles.
Beau Bayliss rounded out the Rutland scoring with a 20-yard catch-and-run while getting in on four tackles on defence.
Meanwhile, in BCHSFA senior AAA action on the weekend, the Mt. Boucherie Bears improved to 1-1 on the season with a 20-0 win over the Mission Roadrunners in Mission.
The Kelowna Owls fell 55-6 to the No. 1-ranked Terry Fox Ravens of Port Coquitlam. The only KSS score came on a 20-yard pass from Marcus Athans to Nolan Ulm.
"It was a tough game for us,” said Owls’ head coach Chris Cartwright. “We had some guys not travel with us because they were sick and we were asking a lot of players to play in different spots today."
"Our team captain, Quinn Large, played his heart out tonight,” he added. “He’s always giving us a chance on every play. He is an outstanding young man who sets the standard for our team on and off the field."
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The Owls and Bears meet each other in their “Battle of the Bridge” on Friday at the Apple Bowl beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Rutland Voodoos’ senior AAA team returns to Kamloops on Friday to take on the AA Valleyview Vikes in an exhibition game.
Matt Klak rushed for 124 yards on 14 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns while Brayden Anderson carried the ball eight times for 51 yards and Jhavoun Blake added 60 yards on five runs and scored a TD.
Grade 9 quarterback, Liam Attwood, came off the bench and managed the game well after Grade 12 starter, Zach Hemmett, injured his ankle early in the first quarter. Attwood completed four passes for 60 yards and found Chase Schumacher for a 40-yard gain.
Anderson led the defence with six tackles one sack and a fumble recovery.
“Injuries have provided opportunity for a lot of new players through our exhibition season,” noted head coach Pete McCall. “This should serve us well as we close in on our first regular season game in two weeks.”
On the past weekend, the Voodoos won their first pre-season game, a 29-0 decision over the SouthKam Titans.
Kelowna Chiefs look to turn things around on Friday against Osoyoos
Following a record-setting four victories to start the season, the Kelowna Chiefs are now winless in their past three Kootenay International Junior Hockey League games.
A 5-2 loss to the visiting Summerland Storm at the Rutland Arena on Saturday dropped the Chiefs to 4-3 and into third place in the KIJHL’s Okanagan Division. The Steam took over first place in the division with a 6-2 mark.
The Chiefs will be looking to turn things around on Friday when they play host to the Osoyoos Coyotes (3-3) at the Rutland Arena beginning 7 p.m.
Playing without their top point-getter (Brody Dale) and several other events out of the lineup, the Chiefs struggled to find momentum on offence against Summerland and were outshot 36-29 in the game that saw the two teams play to a 1-1 draw in the first period and Summerland take the lead (2-1) for good with the lone goal in the second.
The Storm went up by two at 14:36 of the third period on a goal by Cody Swan and put the game away on Gavin Lawrie’s marker seven minutes later. The final goal was into an empty net.
Kaden Stewart, with his first KI goal, opened the scoring for the Chiefs less than three minutes into the game while West Kelowna rookie, Jordon Woytas, also notched his first in a losing cause.
Ethan Hunt took the loss in goal for the Chiefs while Matthew Huber earned the win at the other end of the rink.
OC basketball teams show they can compete against the best
Despite a pair of losses to the highly-touted Capilano University Blues on home court, the Okanagan College Coyotes earned the praise of their coach on the weekend.
“We put a lot of work into our defence and we played very well as a team on that side of the ball,” pointed out head coach Andrew Gini, after the Coyotes dropped 71-56 and 64-40 decisions to one of the top PACWEST teams at Immaculata High School. “We showed we can compete with one of the best, if not the top team in the conference, which went 16-2 last season and is back with the core of the lineup.”
Gini conceded that his team has a lot of work to do offensively.
“We have to concentrate on improving the offence, especially when we’re not hitting from the three-point line. Once we do that, we’ll definitely be a tough team to beat.”
On Friday, OC stayed within 10 points of the Blues until the final three minutes when Capilano hit a few big shots down the stretch.
Saturday’s game saw the Coyotes get off to a slow start (7-25), but gain momentum to pull to within 10 points at the half.
Meanwhile, in OC men’s action in Nanaimo, the Coyotes dropped a 97-91 decision to the host Vancouver Island University Mariners in their first game, but rebounded for a 94-67 win in the second.
The Coyotes fell behind early in the opener, but made a big run in the third quarter to take a one-point lead late in the frame. VIU continued its hot shooting from the three-point line however and held on for the victory.
Top scorer for OC with 22 points was Davide Ciancio, while Curtis Wilson contributed 15.
It was a quick turnaround for Game 2, with tip off at noon on Saturday, but that seemed to be the right wake-up call for the visitors from Kelowna.
They came out aggressively, and never slowed down, playing one of their most complete games of the year, and finishing with a convincing win.
Wilson, the team’s leading point-getter this exhibition season, netted 26 points for the Coyotes, while Matt Lafontaine contributed 15 to go along with 15 from Ciancio and 11 from Michael Gini.
Head coach, Dino Gini, was pleased with the Coyotes’ “complete game” and “high IQ.”
“We played hard and with passion for 40 minutes, and we were all extremely happy with the end result,” he said of Saturday’s game. “It was a well-earned victory after having worked hard all weekend. And it made the trip home that much more enjoyable.”
Next up for the Coyotes is a road trip to Alberta, with both men’s and women’s teams competing at a tournament in Red Deer.
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