The Sports Corner

Vancouver College, Centennial earn bids in semifinals

Vancouver College 23 – South Kamloops 12 – Nov. 21, 2009.

Another dreary, rainy night at Langley’s McLeod Stadium brought about another sloppy game in the quarter-final round.

The Irish showed an array of offensive weapons, throwing the ball effectively with quarterback Jeff Tichelman, running back Garret Sanvido running through and around tacklers all night, and using wide receiver Patrick Bull at quarterback to run the option. 

“We just want to take advantage of Patrick’s quickness,” said Bernett of playing his wide receiver at quarterback. “Under the circumstances with the weather, that’s a way of getting the ball in his hands without it flying through the air first.”

South Kamloops’ quarterback Adam Ballingall tried to win the game himself, capitalizing on a few Irish mistakes, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

He hit enough passes to keep the team in it and when plays broke down he scrambled for big gains. On defence he shadowed wide receiver Reiner Theil, he did everything he could for the Titans.

“That kid’s a heck of a player,” said Vancouver College head coach Todd Bernett of Ballingall. “If you’re that quick and run with that vision and also that determination, you can gash any defence. He’s going to do that to a lot of people.”

By virtue of W.J. Mouat’s win over Kelowna, the Irish will face the Hawks in one semifinal on Saturday.

“They’re good all around but they’re really good on defence,” said Bernett of W.J. Mouat. “Their defence impresses me as much as any in the province. We’re going to have to play a flawless game on offence just to put up points.”

Centennial 48 – Lord Tweedsmuir 20

The score sheet looks a little something like this: Kankolongo, Durant, Durant, Durant, Kankolongo. To break the doldrums someone started streaming the Oregon-Arizona game from some illegitimate website.

Lord Tweedsmuir had a great run in the playoffs and their win last week against Mt. Boucherie was spectacular, but they ran into a buzz saw against Centennial, who boast an incredible amount of skill.

The Centaurs beat the Panthers 48-0 during the regular season. This time around the Panthers got on the board and they can hold their heads high. They put up a valiant effort against one of the best teams in the province.

Centennial will play New Westminster in the semifinals.