The Meadow Ridge Knights junior bantam football team extended its undefeated streak to eight games, defeating the Chilliwack Red Giants 19-0 on the road Saturday night.
It was the fourth shutout in a row for the Knights, who have not allowed a point against in over a month.
The Knights defence once again put in a physical and disciplined effort, with key stops by Justin Fedorak and Thomas Janke, holding Chilliwack to just three first downs.
On the other side of the ball, a 50-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Shanley opened the scoring for the Knights. A screen pass from Jake Laberge to Chico David made it 16-0. David also kicked a 25-yard field goal with less than 20 seconds left in the first half, making it 19-0. Both teams played very tight in the second half as neither team scored.
The Knights are headed back to Townsend Park in Chilliwack this weekend as they face the second-place Chilliwack Blue Giants.
The junior bantam squad was joined by the atom Gold Knights and the peewee Gold Knights with shutout wins last weekend.
The peewee Gold Knights beat Mission 38-0 thanks to an offensive explosion that saw them score all 38 points in the first quarter of the game. Micah Cavalli, Dryden Pollon and Cade Cote each scored touchdowns. The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, with Mason Reeves, Cody Stewart and Sean Roy opening holes for the running backs. The Knights defence kept the Mission running attack at bay and led the Knights to their seventh win in a row. Mike Rice and Jackson Smith shut down the inside running lanes while Jaydeep Sachar and Blake Alford stopped Mission’s outside running.
The peewee Gold Knights play next Saturday at Townsend Park against the Chilliwack Blue Giants alongside the junior bantam squads.
The atom Gold Knights beat Mission 14-0 as the Knights defence shut out the highest scoring team in the league, averaging 36 points going into the game.
Linemen Evan Love, Tyson Caughy and Brandon Goodbridge controlled the line of scrimmage allowing Liam Mountford, Isaiah Cavalli and Tyson Phare to make great tackles. The offence had an impressive 216 rushing yards on the day. Led by quarterback Adam Jones and offensive linemen Mackenzie Gordon, James Harder, running backs Eric Clark and James Ross pounded out the yards. Running back Kurtis Brown closed the game out with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, giving the Gold Knights first place in the league with a 7-1 record. The Knights’ only loss of the season was a forfeit in which they did not have enough players.
The atom Blue Knights kept their winning streak alive as they beat Abbotsford 26-8. The Knights scored on their opening drive as Riley Celino broke a 30-yard run to put the Knights up by seven. Abbotsford’s first drive ended with Tristan Hawke forcing a fumble that Cody Hogarth returned 80 yards for a touchdown to put the Knights up by 14. Offensive linemen Carlos Redekopp, Mitchell Alcinay, William Ferguson and Tyson Smith kept the Knights offense rolling for two more touchdowns. Jaxon Smart and Lucas Deane played well on the defensive line, allowing Riley Rooney and Dallas Pattenden to make a number of backfield tackles.
The midget Knights improved to 4-4 this season with a 36-12 win over Richmond. The offensive line of Wyatt Durocher, Travis McCrea, Tyler Cameron and Brock Loewen blocked well, allowing Joe Schuster, Dylan Macdermid and Tanner Hartley to score touchdowns. Defensively, Nick Stoyeff, Jaimal Gill, Josh Rodgers, Kieran McWilliam and Doug McNally kept the Richmond offence bottled up for most of the game.
The midget Knights are on the road this weekend as they take on White Rock Sunday afternoon.
In bantam action, Hayden South ran for a 45-yard touchdown and also returned a fumble 73 yards for another score but it wasnt enough as the Knights fell 17-14 to North Langley. Mark Curran had his best game of the season before leaving with an injury while Dallas Samson and David Brass led the defence.
The peewee Blue Knights lost 44-0 to Abbotsford. Sebastian Berg, Liam Cumarasamy and Ryley Durante made some strong tackles on defence. While Jacob Petersen, Anthony Cameron and Mahlon Taylor made some good blocks on offense, but it wasn’t enough to stop the top-ranked Abbotsford team.