JR. Varsity: West Van 6 - Nanaimo 20

the Junior Varsity team got behind early and couldn’t fight back for the win.

The JV Highlanders had a first half that they would want back but outplayed the Nanaimo District Islander in the second half.

Today's game got off to a rough start for the JV  Highlanders as the Nanaimo District Islanders ran back the opening kickoff for a TD. It put the JV Highlanders is a tough spot but they bounced back after being held to a punt on our next possession. Special teams came through again as the JV Highlanders once again were able to recover a muffed punt to extend out their drive. Unfortunately they couldn't capitalize on the turnover.

When JV Highlanders sputtered on offense and gave the Nanaimo District Islanders the back the ball they took full advantage by stunning the JV Highlanders by running for a touchdown on their first offensive play from around their own 45 yard line.  Many tackles were missed and the JV Highlanders would love to have that play back. 

During the rest of the first quarter and most of the second quarter the game went back and forth until the end of the 2nd quarter when the JV Highlanders fumbled the ball their own 30 yard line setting the  Nanaimo District Islanders up with a short field and they took advantage scoring their 3rd TD of the half. They missed the ensuing extra point but by now it was 20-0 at halftime and the JV Highlanders had dug themselves into a rather large hole.

The second half started out rough as the JV Highlanders had a fumble and lost possession. The fumble set up a short field for the Nanaimo District Islanders once again. The JV Highlanders defence stepped up made a huge red zone stop to prevent Nanaimo scoring right near the end of the third quarter.

The JV Highlander offense started to come to life and began to click late in the third quarter. The offence put together a nice 16 play drive ending in a TD pass from Nolan Zen to Jay Armitage to bring the score to 20-6. Unfortunately the 2 point conversion was dropped in the end zone.

The JV Highlander defense began to shut down Nanaimo District Islanders offence from that point on and didn't allow any more points in the 2nd half.

Nolan Zen completed a beautiful sideline pass for 35+ yards but unfortunately an illegal formation penalty wiped out the gain and from that point on as the JV Highlanders tried to get back into the game they were unable to create anything after that.

Unfortunately all day long the JV Highlanders it seemed were inches away from completing passes for big gains. The team wasn't mentally ready at the the start of the game and the Nanaimo District Islanders made them pay for dearly.

​Coach Currie noted it was great to see the team bounce back after the early setback and fight hard. The second half run game and defensive play was big for them to build confidence and build on going forward.

The next game is an away game against Belmont Secondary School in Victoria. Another big challenge for the boys.