How sweet it is.
The Oceanside Titans Jr. Bantam football team picked up where they left off this week, posting a 49-0 win over the Fighting Eagles in Campbell River and extending their regular season unbeaten record to 4-0.
But the big news came in Nanaimo Sept. 28 when the upstart Titans blasted the Harewood Bulldogs 31-13.
A big win to be sure, it was the Bulldogs first loss in over three years, and the first time Titans’ head coach Brad Burns has savoured a win against them in his six years with Oceanside.
“It was awesome” he said. “Absolutely incredible.”
According to Burns, both teams traded three and outs before Jeremy Fensome came up with a big tackle for a loss on a fourth and short gamble by Harewood on Oceanside’s 35 yard line.
Oceanside opened the scoring four plays later with a well-executed reverse to Connor Knutson who took it around the left side for a 40-yard touchdown run.
After forcing another Bulldogs’ punt the Titans scored on a 58-yard rumble up the middle by fullback Matt Giroux. The Titans forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff which was recovered by Clayton Hurst, and scored on a six-play, 54-yard drive that included a long run by quarterback Ben Robinson.
The Titans took a 20-0 lead going into half time, and never looked back.
The Bulldogs showed life when they returned a fumbled snap for a TD after the Titans were looking to score again on the Harewood’s 15-yard line, but Robinson quickly restored the three TD lead by returning the ensuing kick-off 70-yards for the major.
After another big 4th down stop on their own 25-yard line, the Titans put the game out of reach by grinding out a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ate up almost eight minutes of clock in the 4th quarter, capped off by a six-yard run by wingback Clayton Hurst.
The Bulldogs scored with less than a minute left to play, but it was too little too late.
Matt Giroux led the way on defence with 10 tackles.
Fast forward to Sunday’s game in Campbell River and the Titans led 20-0 at the half. Robinson and Giroux led the charge with two TDs each, and Ethan Smith and Josh Rice paced the defence with five tackles apiece.
“It was a another team effort from start to finish,” a proud coach Burns said of his squad of 12 and 13 year olds.
The Titans are sitting tops in the Van-Isle Cooperative Football League’s five-team Jr. Bantam division.
GAME ON
The Titans have a bye this weekend then dig in for four home games — the first one Oct. 20 at Springwood Park against the Courtenay Raiders (10 a.m. kickoff).