By Nathan Lowther
After eight weeks of being a group of individuals, the Sooke PeeWee Seahawks put together a perfect team effort at the perfect time, earning themselves one more game. Sooke travelled to Duncan on June 14 to play the Cowichan Bulldogs in a Silver Cup Semi Final playoff game.
Their best effort of the season was rewarded with a 24-0 win, advancing them to the Silver Cup final next weekend. Key contributions came from throughout the roster, but none bigger than the two first-year superstars, Quin Threlfall and Riley Berfelo. Berfelo opened the scoring when he caught a short pass and walked untouched into the endzone.
Threlfall accounted for the other two scores, including the play of the game where he made a sharp cut, burst through a seam before carrying a defender into the endzone. Both players added numerous first down runs, and at least one of them was in on just about every tackle on defence.
Another first-year player, Dane Pfieffer, played the best game of his career. The place-kicker went 3 for 3 on converts, booted kick-offs deep, and played perfect defence. Three times the Bulldogs tried a reverse, and all three times Pfieffer stayed home and made the tackle. Quarterback Connor Keys also shone. On the first drive of the game he converted a key third and long play to extend a drive that ended with him throwing to Berfelo for a touchdown. Keys had a second passing touchdown and a kick-off return touchdown called back in the second half on a debateable penalties, He also laid some big smacks on defence.
His partner in crime, co-quarterback Brody Reinsch played his typical efficient game, making no mistakes on either side of the ball. The Seahawks dominated the trenches, lead by the twin bulls, James Mullen and Anthony Tucker. Both hustled to make tackles all over the field, then dominated on offence. They were joined on the offensive line by centre Dawson Reid and tackles Jordan Quissy and Kingston Foster and opened big holes for their running backs. On defence, Nathan Knight had his second interception of the season, while Westley Cornwall-Johnsen, AvAn Wickheim, and Connor Warford played their part in keeping Cowichan off the scoreboard.
Westley also provided some solid running and strong blocking in relief at running back, and Warford came just short of hauling in a touchdown pass. And the coaches want to send a special thanks to William Daoust and Simon Eskildsen. With the team switching from 12-man to 9-man, the two wide receivers saw less playing time than they deserved. Both stayed positive on the sidelines, and blocked hard on the field. The two of them truly embodied the “team first” mentality that carried the Seahawks to victory. Next weekend Sooke wraps up their season as they aim to hoist the Silver Cup when they meet the Nanaimo Bombers at Westhill Stadium.