WEST VANCOUVER — Ben Corbett’s third touchdown pass of the afternoon, a dandy of a delivery to receiver Ethan Johnston with just 16 seconds remaining, capped the home team’s second rally of the day and carried the host Highlanders past Parksville’s Ballenas Whalers.
West Vancouver, which will open Pacific Conference play this Friday against Nanaimo District, got a good dress rehearsal for the start of league, rallying from an early 14-0 deficit, and then a 20-16 deficit with under two minutes remaining. “This was one of the most exciting games I have been a part of, and I couldn’t be more proud of our guys for stepping up, playing together and clawing out a win,” West Vancouver co-coach Pooya Dourandish. “Our offence was a treat to watch in the second half and defensively we bought into a real team mentality, with three or four guys in on every tackle.” The contrast in styles was extreme. Ballenas had three 100–yard-plus ground gainers and totalled over 400 yards by foot, while the Corbett and the West Van offence just kept passing the ball. “West Van has a great passing game and we need to keep working on our positioning and reactions,” said Ballenas coach Dan Smith. “But overall, I’m happy with our competitiveness and how we never gave up. We just left too much time on the clock for their offence.” Whalers’ quarterback Ben Robinson scored on runs of 25 and 26 yards for a 14-0 Whalers’ lead and Ballenas led 14-8 at halftime. Robinson, off a sneak with just under two minutes remaining, put his team ahead 20-16, setting the stage for Johnston’s winning grab. Corbett went 22-of-41 for 257 yards and three TDs, rallying from an early interception. Ben Welsh caught nine passes for 93 yards. Defensively for West Vancouver, inside backers Ben Croasdale with nine tackles and Ryerson Wallace with eight, paced the defence. Welsh also had eight tackles. For Ballenas, quarterback Robinson was one of three Whalers to rush for over 100 yards. Robinson carried 14 times for 180 yards, Kolby Jack 14 times for 112 yards and Logan Pepper 10 times for 108 yards. Matt Giroux and Ethan Marquis had seven tackles apiece for the Whalers while Jack added six. “On a day where we fell into a hole early on, our guys showed an incredible level of mental toughness and fought hard to get out of this one with a win,” added Dourandish. “I can not say enough about how proud that made us as a coaching staff.” Double A Ballenas will prepare for its biggest rivalry game of the season when it hosts Nanaimo’s John Barsby Bulldogs in the annual Border Battle Friday Article by Howard Tsumura VarsityLetters.ca
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The Junior Varsity Highlanders were outmatched in sloppy conditions, from start to finish in their game against a very good JV Ballenas Whalers team.
Head Coach Cam Currie notes it was a tough day on offence and defence. The offence couldn’t get the run game going and passing is very hard considering the rain and poor field conditions. On defence, the Ballenas Whalers were just too much for the JV Highlander defence to contain. Ballenas pounded the ball up and down the field with a dominant running attack. Currie did comment that special team units had a decent outing considering the wet and mucky conditions in the pouring rain. Special team standout Jay Armitage got the Junior Varsity team their first kick return for TD of the season. The punt unit also recovered another muffed punt return. The Junior Varsity Highlanders Now need to regroup and get back to fundamental football. Next week the JV Highlanders open up their regular season against the Nanaimo District Islander Thursday, October 5th. Kickoff is at 2:00PM Please make sure you come out and cheer the team on!! Show your team spirit by joining us for a fundraiser to support our West Vancouver Secondary School Football Program.
Come to the Chipotle at Unit 879 Park Royal North in West Vancouver on Friday, October 6th between 10:45am and 9:00pm. Bring in this flyer, show it on your smartphone or tell the cashier you’re supporting the cause to make sure that 50% of the proceeds will be donated to West Vancouver Secondary School Football Team. If placing an order online during your fundraiser, please note you must choose the pay in-store option and inform our cashier of your participation before paying. Gift card purchases during fundraisers do not count towards total donated sales, but purchases made with an existing gift card will count The next games for both the Senior and Junior Varsity teams is next Saturday, September 30th at West Vancouver Secondary School against a good Ballenas Whalers Football program from Vancouver Island.
Kick off for the Junior Varsity Team is approximately 12:30 PM against the Ballenas Junior Varsity team. The Senior Varsity game will follow with an estimated 3:00 PM Kick-off against the Ballenas Senior Varsity team. Make a day of it and Support you sons and both teams. The Junior Varsity team did a great job today to spoil the home coming for the Argyle Pipers Junior Varsity team.
The Junior Highlanders powered to a 20 - 8 lead in the 2nd quarter and then shut down Argyle for for the win. Our defense had a big day. Lots of guys stepped up, whether it was creating havoc along the line, linebackers flowing and getting tons of tackles, or db's shutting down the deep pass game. After a TD scored against us in the 2nd quarter, it was lights out on Defence Offensively we were able to grind out a decent enough run game to allow for the big plays deep downfield, our TD's came on 50 and 40 yard plays. Late in the game we were able to work our way out from our own 1 yard line to keep possession of the ball and run out the clock. Big shout out to Golo for his 1st interception as a Highlander. This came late in the 4th at the 1 yard line as Argyle was trying to stay alive down 12 points. Jay Armitage with a 3 TD day was very impressive. 2 receiving TD's on deep passes from Nolan Zen and a fumble recovery scoop and score after a sky high punt from Joaquin Cacho Sousa and great coverage downfield by the punt team. OLine held strong and provided the protection necessary to have success on offense today. Kian with a strong outing today starting at LT. Lots to build on, I hope we all enjoy the feeling of getting our first win as a team. The Ballenas Whalers are the next opponent for the varsity team after their tough loss to the Robert Bateman Timberwolves.
Both the Ballenas Whalers Junior Varsity and Senior Varsity teams will becoming to play at West Vancouver Secondary School Saturday, September 30th, 2017. Game day will start with the Junior Varsity game starting at 12:30 PM and the Senior Varsity game will follow. We anticipate the Senior Varsity kick-off will be approximately 3:00 PM Please come out and cheer both teams on. A tough loss for the Senior Varsity team in front of the home crowd.
After surrendering a combined 75 points over their first two games of the season, both losses, Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves needed to showcase the kind of shutdown mentality they figured they had coming out of fall camp. On Friday, with outside linebacker Sam Henneberry embracing those ideals, the Wolves (1-2) scored a late major to beat the host West Vancouver Highlanders (2-1) in a low-scoring affair. “We knew that West Van had big-play ability in the passing game,” said Bateman head coach David Mills who watched Henneberry make a number of pass breakups, record a sack and a number of QB pressures, before batting down a ball on fourth down late in the final quarter to preserve the win. “We knew that if we could limit their big plays, we’d have a chance to win,” continued Mills. “We had some shaky moments in the secondary in the first half, but in the second half our defense played much better. Our run defense was much improved over the first two weeks.” West Vancouver pivot Ben Corbett, who went 19-for-35 and 198 yards, threw a first-half touchdown pass to put the hosts up 6-0 at the break but Bateman came through on special teams to block what would be a pivotal extra-point attempt. Then, in the fourth, Wolves’ running back Brock McCartney broke off a 35-yard TD run on fourth-and-one. Sam Davenport made the convert for a one-point lead with about five minutes remaining. “It was a tough day at home today,” said West Vancouver co-head coach Pooyah Dourandish. “Robert Bateman came in and executed a strong defensive game plan. We had a tough time moving the ball on the ground. We seemed to be inches away from our air-raid game all day.” West Vancouver was looking to go 3-0 to start its season for the first time since 2007. Ben Welsh caught nine passes for 60 yards in the loss. The West Van defence was led by its linebackers. Ryerson Wallace and Ben Croasdale each had seven tackles with Wallace also registering a sack ~ article by Howard Tsumura www.varsityletters.ca Tomorrow's Senior Varsity game listed as one of the top 6 of the week
Varsity Letters’ Weekend Super 6: Our early look at the weekend’s top HS football match-ups September 20, 2017 by Howard Tsumura Early-season surprises, traditional powers and old-fashioned underdogs. We’ve got everyone represented! Varsity Letters reached out to the coaches this week as we preview six of the weekend’s most intriguing B.C. high school football matchups. TRIPLE A 3 p.m. — Robert Bateman Timberwolves (0-2) at West Vancouver Highlanders (2-0) WEST VANCOUVER — West Vancouver hasn’t started 3-0 since 2007, but getting there won’t be easy. “They are not traditional, but they have athletes and to us, that is an X factor,” said Highlanders’ co-head coach Shawn Anderson of the Wolves. “I got worried watching their film. They are big, lanky and fast, similar to what we’re trying to do. We’re evenly matched. It was like watching us on film. “They have some athletes and we have a young offensive line. We have to be able to make some adjustments this week.” Bateman linebackers Brock McCartney and Sean Moynahan will have to be at their best for the Wolves to get into the win column. Bateman Grade 11 quarterback Logan McDonald is a rising talent and West Van senior pivot Ben Corbett has passed for almost 500 yards through his first two games. Link to full article The Junior team needs to bounce back after a tough loss last week to WJ Mouat. The Junior team has to refocus and prepare to challenge the Argyle Pipers on their home field.
The Junior game will be played at Argyle Secondary School. We anticipate a 11:00 AM kickoff so make sure you get there and cheers the team on. Argyle Secondary School 1131 Frederick Road, North Vancouver, BC V7K 1J3 Map Link The Robert Bateman Timberwolves are the next opponent for the varsity team after their fantastic win over Centennial and WJ Mouat.
The Timberwolves come to play at West Vancouver Secondary School Friday, September 22nd, 2017 with a kickoff time after 1:00 PM due to the Professional Development day at WVSS. The Timberwolves are still trying to find their groove after consecutive losses to Veron and Hugh Boyd, but cannot be counted out. The Senior Varsity team needs to integrate some new team members and hopefully have some players return from injury. |
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August 2019
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