The Samuel Robertson Technical Titans junior football squad won their first game of the season on Wednesday, beating John Barsby of Nanaimo 12-6.
The Titans were down by a touchdown in the first half, and the Nanaimo squad drove all the way into their red zone before fumbling the ball just before halftime.
But in the first play from scrimmage at the opening of the second half, running back Cody Hogarth took the ball on a sweep play and ran it 60 yards for a touchdown. Hogarth, a Grade 10 who is the quarterback for the Titans senior football squad, moved the chains effectively in the second half.
Gavin Mulcahy scored the winning touchdown, after a second fumble recovery by the Titans, and a determined drive by the offence.
“I’m proud of the kids to come back like that, it was a good effort,” said coach Mike Jones.
“There’s a good bunch of kids, but we’ve got a ways to go to build in some polish.”
Jones had a polished Grade 8 team last year, as he won a provincial championship in his first year of coaching at SRT. Many of those former players are now on the junior team, but he lost four of his five running backs to other sports.
Both SRT and cross-district rival Pitt Meadows play in the AA Valley Division this season.
SRT is at Robert Bateman Secondary in Abbotsford next weekend, and Jones is predicting the game will be a “really good test” to see where they are at.