The Peewee division Chilliwack Giants (11-3) made history Sunday winning the first ever Peewee Provincial Championship for Chilliwack Minor Football. The Giants defeated the previously unbeaten Coquitlam Wildcats (13-1) 28-13 to take home the trophy.
The Giants were led by running back Emilio Pineda with 24 carries and 161 yards and a TD. Pineda also was awarded Most Sportsmanlike player. Game MVP Ethan Mastin had 10 carries for 42 yards and 2 TDs, plus an onside kick recovery. The Giants simple running attack was unstoppable behind the capable blocking of Mastin, Gabe Mannes, Wyatt Uzick, Spencer Breslin and receivers Noah Thiessen, Terry Richely and Mason Hartskamp. Mannes also had 8 carries for 76 yards and a TD. The offensive line, including Jake Troyan, Michael Lengert, Devan Voss, Gaven Streifel, Reese Smith, Taj Sidhu, Jaren Lengert, Gibson Hardie and Noah Chand played its best game yet, opening great holes for the Giants backs. “I am glad that our blockers had their best game the last game of the season,” noted Offensive Coach Andy Uzick. “It was like wave after wave of blue jerseys clearing a path for Emilio.” “We were told that Coquitlam had only allowed 60 points in 13 games and had shut out their last 4 opponents – and that they would do the same to us. Our kids don’t talk, they just play football!” exclaimed Uzick.
The Wildcats opened the scoring with a long TD pass in the second quarter and the Giants responded just before halftime. With the score 7-6 for the Wildcats at the half head coach Laurie Smith told the Giants to continue their physical play. “I knew we would wear them down eventually – that Coquitlam team has never been hit that hard. I attribute our physical play to our trip to Nebraska”, noted Smith, “our kids learned what it means to play physical football thanks to the beating we took in August.” After the half, the Wildcats backs started leaving the field almost every play with an injury. “They were frustrated and hurting” commented Defensive Coach David Janzen, “we run a very aggressive defense, with multiple blitzes and lots of pressure – and they could not move the ball.” Janzen also noted that the Giants spend most of every practice either blocking or tackling, “its what’s important at this level of football – learing how to to hit hard, but also safely.”
The defense was led by defensive end Michael Lengert with 8 tackles and 1 sack. Linebacker Wyatt Uzick had 6 tackles and a sack while outside linebackers Mannes and Breslin had 3 tackles each. Corners Evan McCracken and Adam Phillips had another outstanding game containing the outside run with 2 tackles each. Linebacker Pineda also had 4 tackles and a sack while Safety Ethan Mastin recorded 3 tackles including a TD saving tackle in the 4th quarter on a long pass. Sureet Pabbi, Jaren Lengert and Jake Troyan applied constant pressure from their defensive line positions, each recording 2 tackles. Defensive Halfback Brendan Piegsa almost had an interception and successfully covered the Wildcats deep threat for most of the game. Linebackers Colin Campbell and Austin Kardux also had a tackle each and were able to apply tremendous pressure on the Wildcats QB. Overall, the defense limited Coquitlam to just 13 points, which was unsual for a team that averaged over 30 points per game.
The 2010 Giants became the first Chilliwack peewee team to win the Provincial Championship, joining only the 1998 JB Giants and the 2009 Midget Giants as Chilliwack Provincial Champions.
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