The Valley Huskers were unable to carry momentum from their Week 3 victory into their Saturday (Aug. 17) matchup with the Westshore Rebels.
The visiting Rebels took advantage of missed opportunities from the Huskers to take a 42-24 victory at Exhibition Stadium in Chilliwack.
The Huskers struggled to get anything going offensively in the first quarter being shutout 9-0, before bouncing back in the second frame to pull within three. The second half resembled the first with the Rebels scoring 30 points to the Huskers’ 15, handing them their second loss of the season.
“It was a tough loss,” said head coach Bob Reist. “I thought our defence played well enough to win, but they were put in tough spots with turnovers…there are some things to correct but overall we played well enough defensively to win.
“Offensively we struggled, especially early on, to really generate any momentum. We left opportunities on the field, made major mistakes on special teams in the second half and we need to correct things.”
It was a strong overall performance from the Huskers defence despite the lopsided score. They managed to hold a potent Westshore offence to just 245 total yards of offence with defensive back Raiden Mastin intercepting Westshore quarterback Ethan Pickard twice.
Offensively, things were different though.
The Huskers struggled to find their rhythm through the air, using all three of their quarterbacks throughout the contest. Starter Tyran Duval completed just 45 per cent of his passes for 77 yards with back-ups Noah Makkreel and Jacob Davies combining for 65 yards. The leading passer for the Huskers was none other than wide receiver Luc Rodrigues who, thrown in for two trick plays, completed both of his passes for touchdowns totalling 89 yards.
The loss has the Huskers holding a record of 2-2 sitting fourth in the provincial standings. They now look ahead to their Week 5 rivalry matchup with the second place Langley Rams in the third running of the annual ‘Cascade Cup’. The Rams boast a record of 3-1 and the province’s second-best point-differential.
“We have a big game coming up this week against Langley,” said coach Reist. The third Cascade Cup being awarded to the winner brings intensity to this matchup.
“We need to improve throughout practice this week and rise to the challenge.”
