The North Langley Bears bared their teeth during the peewee football team’s home opener Saturday at McLeod Athletic Park.
The Bears blanked the Meadow Ridge Gold Knights 24-0.
On their first possession, the Bears engineered an eight-play, 60-yard drive.
Marcus Stang and Caleb Faust both rushed for first downs before Mathieu Gale took the ball in for six points from the six yard line, on third and goal.
During the second quarter, North Langley twice turned the ball over on downs after three plays, but in the second half each of their three possessions ended with touchdowns.
It started with the Bears’ longest drive of the day (70 yards), taking seven plays.
Twice, quarterback Jaxon Stebbings kept the ball and took off up the right sideline, for 32 and 35 yards, respectively, setting up a first and goal at the three.
Two plays later, Jordan Williams went in for the major score.
On the Bears’ next possession, Stang steam-rolled up the middle for 11 yards and a first down.
Then, Stebbings again rolled right to pass and found space to run, going the distance from midfield for the touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, the Bears took the ball at Meadow Ridge 48 when the Knights turned the ball over on downs.
On the first play from scrimmage, Mathieu Gale took the hand-off, rounded the corner, and sprinted down field for the Bears’ fourth and final touchdown of the game.
The Bears’ defence contained Meadow Ridge throughout the game, with at least 10 different North Langley players registering tackles.
The best field position of the game for the Knights came in the waning moments of the first half.
They took over at the North Langley 36 after a Bears’ third down fumble, and had moved the ball to the North Langley’s 16 when the clock ran out.
The longest Meadow Ridge drive in the game, chewing up 40 yards of real estate, came late in the fourth quarter.
However, two key tackles by North Langley’s Brandon Folkerts prevented big gains, and Nicholas Reimer brought down the Knights quarterback at the Bears’ 24 yard line as time expired.
– by Andy Faust
North Langley atoms
The Bears atom team suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Meadow Ridge Gold Knights in week two of the season.
The Bears had a slow start, suffering several minor injuries in the first half.
Despite the loss, the Bears had bright spots.
Keaghan Hurley had a 35 yard run in the second quarter, and rambled for another 15 yards in the third stanza, in addition to several shorter runs.
Manny Fotiou added two sacks to his season tally.
Ty Gallinger recorded a sack of his own.
Annika Key made several key tackles to keep the score close.
Owen Sieben did double duty, recovering a fumble in the fourth quarter while on defence and, as the team’s quarterback, pushing through tackles for a major in the fourth quarter.
– by Julie Fennell
North Langley bantams
The Bears trounced the Westside Warriors by a 38-0 count Saturday afternoon in Langley.
The Bears made an impact early when Ryan Barthelson raced down field to steal the opening kickoff from the visiting Warriors, and the home side never looked back.
Zander Bailey ran for four touchdowns and Jacob Stebbings passed to Andy Hanlen for another to post an impressive 32-0 lead at the half.
When Jake Evans pounded across the goal line in the third quarter, leaving a trail of Warriors in his wake, the visitors conceded victory, having not enough healthy players on their bench to resume play.
The Bears’ defence defence, led by Evans and Mason Block, constantly stymied any attempts by the Warriors to move the ball down the field.
Bears kicker Charlie May ensured the Warriors consistently started deep in their own end, while also contributing a couple of converts to the score.
North Langley Jr. bantams
The day belonged to the Ridge Meadows Knights, who tamed the Bears 38-0 on Saturday.
There were some highlights for the Bears, all coming in the first half.
Cadeyryn Barthelson almost had an interception in the second quarter, however the ball just spilled out before Barthelson hit the ground.
Another potential turning point came when Brandon Brynjolfson ran the ball down for touchdown, making it 8-6, however it was called back due to a holding call on the Bears.
In the second quarter, Bears quarterback Michael Huggins threw a ball that was touched by three sets of hands before Alex Ronald caught it.
The Bears tried to mix it up a little, with a surprise punt by kicker Evan Rees, gaining a few yards.
Trevor Paulenz had a nice run up the side to gain yardage in the first quarter.
Ethan Bernardin blocked a Knights’ kick in the third quarter, stopping the conversion.
North Langley’s defensive line played well in a losing effort, with tackles from Barthelson, Nick Triemstra, Brodie Tarling, Evan Rees, Jacob Ronald, Joey Yeomans, Ben Pascoe, Jude Wessel and Brynjolfson.