Mike Godwin hopes an up and down 2016 season for his Mt. Boucherie Bears will be trending in the right direction this weekend on the Lower Mainland.
On Friday at Mercer Stadium, the Bears will battle the New Westminster Hyacks in the opening round of the playoffs.
Boucherie (3-4) finished sixth in the Eastern Conference, while the Hyacks went 4-2 to finish third in the Western Conference.
Many of the players on both sides met two seasons ago at the junior varsity level, with the Bears winning by a narrow margin.
In the Hyacks, Godwin expects the Bears will face a well-coached, offensively disciplined team.
Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥œT³ó±ð²â run an offense that always causes fits for defensive ³¦´Ç´Ç°ù»å¾±²Ô²¹³Ù´Ç°ù²õ,Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥ said Godwin, Boucherie's head coach. Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥œP³ó²â²õ¾±³¦²¹±ô±ô²â I think we match up, but we need to be mentally focused.
Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥œT³ó±ð¾±°ù offense just keeps plugging away and even if a defense stops them numerous times, if a mental lapse occurs, they score. They are a very well-coached ³Ù±ð²¹³¾.Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥
The winner will move on to the quarterfinals the weekend of Nov. 18 and 19.
Bears 55 KSS Owls 21
The Bears closed out the regular season with a 55-21 victory Saturday at CNC over the rival KSS Owls.
Taylor Knoll ran for three touchdowns and passed for another, while Steve Johnson and Chris Smith also scored majors as Boucherie made its final tune up for the playoffs.
Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥Àá³Ù was a good win for ³Ü²õ,Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥ said coach Mike Godwin. Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥œK³§³§ has been improving every week and they came out determined to win.
Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥œA³Ù the end of the day, both sides were fired ³Ü±è,Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥ he added. Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥Áè±ð²µ²¹°ù»å±ô±ð²õ²õ of how the season goes for either team, this is an intense rivalry and our guys played well, especially our offensive and defensive ±ô¾±²Ô±ð²õ.Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥
Blaise Beauchemin scored a pair of touchdowns for the Owls who finished the season at 0-7. On the upside, KSS coach Chris Cartwright saw his young team make progress with each week, finishing with solid effort.
Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥Àá am so proud of the boys with how we ±è±ô²¹²â±ð»å,Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥ Cartwright said. Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥Àá feel for our senior players as for some of them this could have been their last football game they ever played. We really wanted to win this one. There were a lot of opportunities where we could have gone the other way.
Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥Àá believe we have solidified our identity as a team that finishes everything we do no matter what. I am really excited to move forward with what we have learned this ²â±ð²¹°ù.Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥
In junior varsity playoff action this week, the Owls will host Notre Dame on Thursday at the CNC turf.
The Mt. Boucherie Bears JVs will play at St.Thomas More on Thursday.