Charlottetown, PE – The Holland College Hurricanes are looking to defend their Atlantic Football League championship title for a second consecutive year.
Their unshakeable defence led them to a 29-0 victory over the UNB Red Bombers at the UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place on Saturday afternoon.
Hurricanes cornerback Jay Dearborn was a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball and special teams. He said the defence was able to take some pressure off the offence.
“The defense came out really strong. We knew with the sloppy weather we’d have to have a good defensive game to take the wind out of their offense’s sails.”
Both teams struggled on the slippery field and the game was scoreless through the first quarter.
An 11-yard run by running back Layton Aitken gave the Hurricanes the lead early in the second quarter. Aitken dominated the game, scoring two more rushing touchdowns.
Head coach Andrew Hickey said his team focused on the running game after losing three of their receivers to injury.
“The offensive linemen loved it. They really got fired up and rallied around our running backs. We showed that we can run the ball.”
The score was 22-0 for the Hurricanes at half time.
Hurricanes quarterback Christian Hackney said the rainy weather did not hinder his team.
“It’s football, you have to prepare for the weather. We knew if it was going to be rainy we would need to run the ball, so that’s what we have been practicing all week.”
Hackney gave a lot of the credit to the defence, which caused two safeties and an interception in the second half.
“The defence stepped up this week and played really well. They’ve been working on new things this week to give them an edge.”
Holland College will defend their title on home turf against the UNB Saint John Seawolves on Saturday, November 1, at 1 p.m.
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