Tyrel Ogloff scored just about every way possible, but it wasn’t enough as the Titans of Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary School fell 47-32 to the visiting Robert Bateman Timberwolves in their first game of the B.C. High School Football League AA junior varsity season.
Ogloff started the game at quarterback in relief for the injured Daniel Ferro, and was able to make an impact with his feet as well as his arm.
In addition to two passing touchdowns, Ogloff returned a kickoff in the first half for a touchdown, before running the ball into the end zone in the second half.
While Ferro’s injured arm may have been too banged up to throw, it was good enough to pull in a spectacular 20-yard reception in the second half to keep the Titans’ drive alive, a drive that ultimately led to a Titans touchdown.
Given the team’s six-foot-five receiver Liam Evanow was out injured, Titans head coach Mark Ogloff said he was happy with the offence’s performance.
“We had good blocking on the offensive line, and that opened things up,” he said.
However, the Titans defence was largely helpless against the run. With the Titans missing a number of key starters on their defensive line, the Timberwolves were able to push run after run up the middle, opening up a formidable 41-18 lead by the end of the first half.
“The bottom line is we have to get the guys that are injured back on the roster, and they guys that are new, better at what they do,” said Ogloff after the game.
In the second half, Ogloff moved his defensive line around to take away the middle of the field, a tactic that seemed to work. While the Timberwolves scored on the opening drive of the second half, the Titans were able to keep them off the board after that, out-scoring the visitors 14-7 in the final two quarters.
“We saw where we were getting beat and moved some of our more experienced guys from the offensive line in to stop it,” Ogloff said.
While the Titans’ comeback attempt fell short, the elder Ogloff said he was proud of his team for persevering in the second half despite being down by 23 points.
“Bateman is a very good team… I thought our guys put up a good fight,” he said. “They didn’t quit. I’m proud of them.”