Ranked tops in the province midway through the current B.C. high school football season is a solid place to be, but the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers have some work to do if they want to win it all this fall.
This according to head coach Kurt Thornton, who has seen his triple-A Varsity squad be very good on the gridiron, but also not so good.
Case in point, the Panthers’ single-point victory in Kelowna last Friday (Oct. 12), when they traveled by bus to the Okanagan for a road game that should have been a much easier win for the Cloverdale-area team.
“We didn’t play great,” Thornton said Monday. “They pushed us hard, and give credit to them. The difference was, they hit the upright on their third touchdown, so they missed the convert. It was that close.”
The Surrey-based squad beat the Owls by a score of 21-20, which improved the Panthers’ record to a perfect 4-0 in games that matter this season.
Very proud with our team’s effort last night. It was a great high school football game! Excited to learn with the players and build off this. GO OWLS! T.O.U.G.H.! #theprocess #learning #tough #goowls @BCHSFB @kssowls @kss_tweets https://t.co/C2zToj3frY
— Chris Cartwright (@dbcartwright58) October 13, 2018
With the playoffs on the horizon, the team has a goal of winning the school’s first-ever provincial football championship at the senior level.
“Our senior varsity team has never won it, but the juniors have won it two years in a row now,” Thornton said. “So with the two recent wins, most of these kids have won a championship at the provincial level. They know what it takes, and they want it.”
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From here on out, the Panthers hope to be healthy and continue to have everyone show up on game day.
Thornton, who has been with the team since inception in 2004, pointed to Yosef Drysdale and Kojo Odoom as two of the team’s top players this season, but is also quick to give credit to others.
“We have some pretty skilled players, and we try to have the ball in a couple of kids’ hands at least a couple times a game,” the head coach said. “Yosef, a receiver and he returns kicks for us, he’s been getting, like, two touchdowns a game — on special teams, offense, defense as well, and he’s a very dynamic kid. he’s been a big difference maker for us.
“And Kojo, he’s been dynamic for us, too,” Thornton continued. “I think he’s probably the best DB in the league — certainly top couple of kids, but I think he’s the best.… To be able to defend the pass the way he does, and the run, it’s a pretty nice place to be as a coach, to have a kid like that on the roster.”
Thornton said a group of Panthers that doesn’t get much credit, but should, is the offensive line, which includes Dakota Lapine, Noah Bedard, Ryan Rapske, Austin Benoit and Addison Sadler.
“The pass protection we get (for starting QB Trey Jones) is really solid for high school, and we have something like 250 yards rushing against STM (or St. Thomas More, in a 27-21 win for the Panthers on home turf Oct. 5).”
Check out this highlight! https://t.co/VBBlN9EI3E
— Trey Jones (@treyjones_11) October 9, 2018
Sadly, Thornton said, Tweedsmuir’s last remaining home game this season, originally scheduled for Friday afternoon (Oct. 19), has been cancelled, as the West Kelowna-based Mt. Boucherie team has forfeited due to a lack of players available for its road trip south.
“The last home game is usually special for our Grade 12s, right, so it’s unfortunate,” the coach explained.
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As it stands, the Panthers will play a final regular-season game in Mission on Friday, Oct. 26, and then it’s on to the playoffs.
“This is one the best teams we’ve had, no question,” Thornton said, when asked about the overall quality of his team, “and we’ve had a couple of really good ones over the years. We had good teams in 2013 and ‘14, for sure, and they were just shy of pushing for a championship.”
This season, he again sees something special in the Panthers’ mix, as long as the players pay attention to detail.
“Kids are interesting, you know, and there are times when we don’t have a good practice and I look at them and say, ‘You guys are so much better than this,’” he Thornton said. “And we have other days where we totally rock it, and those are the moments when I think, ‘Yes, this is a championship team.’
“But there are a lot of teams like that,” he cautioned. “You have your ups and downs, kids are going through a lot with school and other things going on, and it’s our job to pull it all together and get them where they need to be, week in and week out, and so far we’ve managed to get that done. As the season comes to a close and we move into the playoffs, as coaches really need to do a job to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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