The Ballenas Whalers junior and senior football teams scored a rare double when they both beat the visiting West Vancouver Highlanders at Merle Logan Field last Friday.
Under the rain, the junior Whalers kicked off the doubleheader by shutting out junior Highlanders 38-0 and was later followed with the senior boys posting a 30-20 win.
Head coach Dan Smith said after losing a close season opener against Triple-A Mount Doug just over a week ago, the junior Whalers, which is a Double-A team, drew inspiration from it.
“They got to play a cream of the crop team against Mount Doug so when they came out today (against Highlanders) and they started having a bit of success, their confidence builds,” said Smith.
The junior Whalers quarterback Bruce McCabe had 33 yard and three yard touchdowns. He also connected with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Reme Conway and as 37 yard touchdown pass to Ryker Pearson. Wylee Frank scored a 50 yard interception return and Jack Giroux posted a 34 yead touchdown run.
The senior Whalers had a tougher outing as they lost a bit of their composure in the second half when Damon Thompson got knocked out on a dirty play. Offensively, the Whalers didn’t have to do much. They limited themselves to just three effective plays.
“We noticed that their d-line were big but they were tired as they only had five guys,” said Smith. “We just kept pounding them. We had three plays that we kept running. One was the quarterback sneak with what we called as ledge blocking. And in that we just go right on the nose and we just drive. They just couldn’t stop it.
“Then we ran two inside plays because earlier on they showed that on the edges, their outside back were pretty talented. When we tried to go outside, they tackled us for losses. So we kept staying in between the tackles. Normally that’s the play you do in fourth and short. They weren’t expecting them on first and second. So when it was working, we just kept doing it.”
Smith said he got some flak from his coaches, who want to try other plays.
“I grew up with, if they can’t stop it, don’t change it,” said Smith.
The sneak play earned quarterback Ben Chomolok three touchdowns and he rushed a total of 108 yards. The other spark for the Whalers offence was Demar Hohnstein, who carried the ball 117 yards and also scored a touchdown.
The Whalers scored first but the Highlanders fought back and kept the game close. Ballenas defence struggled to contain the West Van, particularly their quarterback who successfully gain a number of first downs. Smith said they will need to work on it.
“One of the reason we scheduled this team is because they like to pass a lot,” said Smith. “And we know that’s something we really need to work at. In the first half we weren’t getting any pressure on the quarterback and that’s pretty tough. We figured it out what to do in the second half. We got pressure but our outside linebackers and ends, instead of containing the quarterback and squeezing him in, they went in too tight and he bounced out. It was so frustrating to watch.”
Unecessary penalties were another glaring chink in the Whalers’ armor, which Smithsaid gave West Van chances to stay in the game.
“In the second, they were just totally undisciplined penalties by two players that are just not acceptable,” said Smith.
The Whalers will play another home doubleheader against another Triple-A team, GW Graham on Saturday at Pionexser Park in Nanaimo. The junior Whalers see action at 1 p.m. then the senior boys take to the field at 3:30 p.m.