For Mother’s Day, the Sooke Pre-Atom Seahawks gave their moms a bouquet of beautiful football and an impressive 22-8 win over the Cowichan Bulldogs at Westhill Stadium. From the opening drive to the final whistle, Sooke played their most dominate game of the season.
The dominance started with the power running of Hunter Swift, who had multiple long runs on the day, including two for first half touchdowns. Swift also knocked Bulldogs around with his blocking and flew around the field on defence.
Quarterback Connor Keys played in his first football victory and contributed maybe the game’s pivotal play. With just nine seconds left in the first half, Keys broke a long sweep for a touchdown, putting Sooke up 20 to 6 at halftime. He also ran in two converts and played aggressively on defence.
A variety of Seahawks made offensive contributions. Brody Reinsch and Maliki Allen each had some big runs and kept drives going with important third-down conversions. The day’s most exciting third-down conversion, though, came from Westley Cornwall-Johnsen when he simply imposed his will on Cowichan, breaking four or five tackles to get the 14 yards needed. Heath White put the game away with a long run that let Sooke run the last seconds off the clock.
The offensive line continued its stout play. Austin Warren filled in for an injury and played his first ever reps at centre despite practicing the position for just a couple of weeks. Two other first-year Seahawks, Logan Bainbridge and Xzander Adams, had their first ever rushing attempts. So far, 13 of 20 Seahawks have had at least one carry on the season.
Two of the youngest Seahawks, Trystyn Schroeder and Mitchell Sutherland, worked hard blocking and getting involved defensively.
For the most part, Sooke’s defence kept the Bulldogs’ offence at bay. Swift and Keys both generated takeaways, while Reinsch and Cornwall-Johnsen controlled the outside. William Daoust and Maliki Allen both put out their best defensive efforts alongside Dayton Planes’ typical strong performance. And Christian Kaisinger, who also played a couple of series at quarterback, almost came up with an interception when he broke up a Cowichan passing attempt.
The defence also earned a safety late in the fourth quarter, making it consecutive games that Sooke’s defence has put points on the board. Add that to an offence just starting to find its stride, and the 2-3 Seahawks are promising to make some noise with the playoffs just three weeks away.
Submitted by Nathan Lowther