Sr. Varsity: West Van 6 - Robert Bateman 7

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
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