Bulldogs are back- to- back Double A champions
The afterlife is probably some time away for Rob Stevenson, the largerthanlife sideline presence who guides the John Barsby Bulldogs football team.
But the barrel- shaped, goatee- sporting man in the ubiquitous red shorts, sweatshirt and toque thought he’d found it after his Nanaimo school repeated as B. C. high school senior varsity Double A champions Saturday night with a 36- 20 win over the Mission Roadrunners.
“It feels like heaven,” said the highly quotable head coach, who is viewed as something of a god by his players. “Sweet as anything there ever was and probably even sweeter just because of the no- name group we had.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs lost a handful of key Grade 12s after last season’s 21- 20 championship clinching win over Carson Graham, but still found a way to beat a very good Mission team that was making the school’s third finals appearance in four years.
“Some people might have thought that we needed the other guys with us,” said lineman Josh Goldston. “But we just proved that we could do it by ourselves. Wow. This is amazing, incredible.”
Barsby was in its fourth final in five years and Saturday’s win was its third over that span.
“We overcame a ton,” said Stevenson. “We went through some stuff out of our control early in the season. We stayed together ... kept our fears to ourselves and shared our courage with each other. I think we inspired ourselves.”
With Trentyn Anderson, Cole Virtanen and Kieren Carreck pounding the ball on the ground out of Barsby’s double wing offence, the Bulldogs raced to a 21- 0 lead in the second quarter.
Mission quarterback Jesse Walker’s short touchdown runs of five yards late in the first half and three yards 4: 51 into the third quarter got the Roadrunners to within 10 points at 24- 14.
But then North Rainey, the Bulldogs’ athletic six- foot- three Grade 12 quarterback took over. He scored on a dynamic 28- yard scramble up the middle, then threw a 23- yard strike to Chris DeGoutiere in the end zone on fourth- and- 11 for the final score.
“It’s unreal ( to repeat),” said Rainey. “It’s the best feeling in the world. I can’t explain how happy I am for my teammates. This is probably the biggest accomplishment of my life, ever.”
While the Barsby offence was clicking most of the game, the defence also came up huge in holding Walker to just 58 yards on 21 carries. The standout Grade 12 quarterback had blitzed Ballenas/ Parksville for 338 yards and eight touchdowns a week earlier in a 62- 61 semifinal victory.
“We were just able to match ( Walker) well, trying our hardest to keep him where we wanted him,” said Cole Virtanen, Barsby’s linebacker/ running back who had a couple of big hits on Walker and was named the game’s MVP.
Stevenson didn’t want to hear talk about a dynasty despite his school’s gaudy record over the past five years.
“We started this year by talking to the guys about ‘ Forget the ghost of last year. Let’s build our own story.’ It wasn’t any tougher this year in that sense, although we’re kind of everybody’s rivalry game.
“You just go out and try to be the best Barsby you can be and don’t worry about anything swirling around you. The key to our success is our philosophy of ‘ try your hardest, get better each day and do the right thing.’ ”