Good things come in fours, at least for the Ballenas Whalers senior football team, which won their fourth game in a row this past weekend, beating the Sentinel Spartans 44-0.
The win puts the Whalers in a three way tie for first with the Barsby Bulldogs and the Argyle Pipers, who the Whalers will host in their final regular season game this Saturday, 1 p.m. kickoff, in what’s sure to be an exciting game.
The rushing leader for the AA senior circuit, Coltin Laplante, led the way for the Whalers once again as he racked up 147 yards and three touchdowns on the day, giving him 1,179 yards and 15 TD’s through seven games.
Tyson Low ran for 67 yards and Matt Price scrambled for 32 yards and a touchdown as well.
Quarterback Brody Seselja scored a touchdown on the ground, a 10-yard quarterback keep, and connected with Brendan Harstad on a 47-yard TD pass.
The 44-0 win meant the Whalers could rest their big guns early on and give them time to recover for this weekend’s big battle against the Argyle Pipers.
“I’m very happy with our offense, we continued to run the ball well,” head coach Jeremy Conn said following the big win.
“We run the ball good and protect it well too. We’ve got one of the best offensive lines in B.C. and it shows in each game, as they are always pushing back the defensive line and allowing our running game to have success.”
The Whalers defense had a little something to say on the day as well, as they managed to stand their ground and not only shutout the Spartans on the scoreboard but saw the Spartans finish with negative yards when the final whistle went.
Jonah Hay led the defense with four tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.
Cobby Stubbins had three key tackles, along with Laplante, who added a sack and fumble recovery to go along with his three tackles and Steve Martin chipped in with four tackles and two sacks.
“The defense has been playing really well as of late,” Conn said.
“They’re playing very aggressive but they’re also playing very smart. We’ve been able to cut back on the other teams hitting explosive plays while also making several big plays in their backfield.”
Everything seems to be coming together at the right time for the Whalers, who are poised to make a good run in the playoffs. With four wins in a row and no signs of letting their foot off the gas, this weekend’s match against the Argyle Pipers is one that coach Conn and his Whalers are geared up for.
“Argyle likes to play a finesse style of football,” Conn said. “Lots of misdirection plays out of the shotgun formation.”
“If the weather was anything like it was this past weekend, which should pose problems for them and work right into our advantage,” he said. “We like to grind it out on the ground and take advantage of what we like to call Whaler Weather.”