The Sooke Peewee Seahawks earned one more game with a convincing 30-14 victory over the Gordon Head Raiders in the first round of the Victoria football’s Silver Cup playoffs on June 16 at Copley Field in Saanich.
The offense dominated possession in the first half, converting first downs almost at will. Andy Abell set the tone early by punishing would-be tacklers and opening the scoring with a long touchdown run that included a nasty straight-arm on the final defender.
Quarterback Bailey McMillan continued his strong play, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing another to Eddie George. That score came one play after a run by George that might be the run of the season for the Seahawks.
On third and six, George took a pitch and started left, but was met by a couple Raiders at the line of scrimmage. Somehow he kept his forward momentum, broke a tackle, broke a couple more, fought his way across the first down marker before finally breaking free from a mob of Raiders and running all the way back across the field and deep into Gordon Head territory. The next play George made a catch in traffic on the final play of the half, putting Sooke up 22-0.
Gordon Head came out strong in the second, scoring on a spectacular one-handed grab, then forcing a Sooke punt that the Raiders returned for a touchdown. After that, Sooke settled down and retook control of the game, with an Abell interception setting up McMillan’s second rushing TD being the turning point.
The biggest key in the win was Sooke owning the trenches, led by Jordan Schutt, Randy Ross and Kyle Berger. Cole Johns ran hard and tackled hard, saving his best game for the post-season. Alec McKenzie had another brilliant kicking day, booting his kick-offs deep and going three for four on converts. Cornerbacks Logan Winger and Tie Boake both broke up passes, and Boake’s interception late in the fourth quarter iced the game for the Seahawks.
The PeeWee Seahawks play their final game of the season when they meet the fifth-ranked Peninsula Wildcats in the Silver Cup finals, June 22 at 3:00 p.m. at Westhills Field in Langford.
By Nathan Lowther