The Sports Corner

Passing game flies under the radar for Mouat Hawks, but still key

W.J. Mouat vs. Vancouver College - McLeod Stadium - Nov. 28, 8 p.m.

For a Grade 11 student-athlete, W.J. Mouat Hawks quarterback Cam Bedore has a lot more poise in the pocket then most people would think.

The scary thing is, he’s still got one more year left in B.C. high school football.

But he isn’t thinking about that right now. Not one bit.

On Saturday, Bedore and the Hawks will go head-to-head with their toughest challenge of the season – the Vancouver College Fighting Irish.

So far in these Triple A playoffs, Mouat has yet to be tested. They have yet to have a team push the envelope on them like New Westminster Secondary, Centennial or Terry Fox did in the regular season.

When the Hawks were pushed in those three games, they pushed back but were only victorious in one of them – a 22-14 thriller over the Terry Fox Ravens.

But to date, the Fighting Irish pose the biggest threat to a repeat appearance from the Hawks in the Subway Bowl.

Vancouver College did what no one really pegged them doing and that was to finish the regular season a perfect 5-0-0, ahead of fellow powerhouses New West and Notre Dame.

They key to this game for Bedore will be the passing game.

Everyone around the league, especially the Fighting Irish, knows that the No. 1 offensive threat going right now is Hawks runningback Allan Dicks.

Dicks has six touchdowns in two playoff games – all of them on the ground – and he is averaging just over 23 carries and 235.5 yards rushing per game.

It’s no surprise the Grade 12 phenom is going to see the ball and it’s no surprise that the Fighting Irish are going to contain him if they want to win.

But Bedore has more than just one offensive weapon he has in his arsenal.

There’s himself, secondary runningback Drew Chung or receivers Desmond Bassi and Chad Hanson, who was singled out for his strong play in the first post season game against the Notre Dame Jugglers.

Bedore is ranked No. 1 in passing with a 61.3 per cent pass completion rate that has yielded two touchdowns in two games.

What is most impressive is that in two games, the Hawks have averaged over 110 yards through the air compared to just 76 for Vancouver College pivot Jeff Tichelman.

In fairness to Tichelman, his team has only played in one playoff game.

Saturday’s forecast for McLeod Athletic Park in Langley is predicting rain, but Bedore told the Abbotsford-Mission Times after Wednesday night’s rain-soaked practice that a little moisture isn’t going to hurt.

“I’m pretty confident in throwing, even in the rain,” he told The Times.

This was evident by several darts he through while the rain poured down with fury.

But if the Hawks want to beat a team that has proven itself a worthy bunch – so far - to advance to next weekend’s Subway Bowl, the passing game is going to have to put up another good game.