Football BC: Games to keep an eye on this long weekend (Oct. 8-11)

The start of the playoffs in the BC Junior Football League and the 33rd edition of the Shrum Bowl featuring cross-town university rivals UBC and SFU are among the highlights in local football action in British Columbia as Canada celebrates Thanksgiving long weekend.

Vancouver Mainland Football League

Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada means there will be some Monday afternoon football this coming long weekend. Minoru Park in Richmond will host a double-header of action on October 11 featuring visits from two of the top teams in the VMFL Midget Division.

The Richmond Raiders Black (1-4) will host the Coquitlam Falcons (4-0) at 12:30 pm followed by the Richmond Raiders White facing the Langley Stampeders (5-0) at 2:30 pm. The Falcons and Stampeders are two of three teams without a loss to date in the VMFL Midget Division.

The other remaining undefeated team, the North Delta Longhorns (4-0), have a Sunday night game this week at South Surrey Athletic Park when they face the White Rock-South Surrey Titans (2-2) at 5:30 pm on October 10.

For the complete schedule in the VMFL in all division, please visit [url]www.vmfl.ca.

Valley Community Football League

This week’s featured game in the VCFL comes from the Junior Bantam division and takes place on Saturday, October 9 when the Chilliwack Blue Giants butt heads with the Abbotsford Falcons at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford. These teams met on opening weekend and played to a 30-30 tie. They are the only two remaining undefeated teams in the VCFL Junior Bantam division – both with a record of four wins and one tie through five games. Kickoff is 12:30 pm.

For the complete schedule in the VCFL in all divisions, please visit [url]http://www.allprosoftware.net/vcfl.

Northern Minor Football

Prince George will also be hosting a Thanksgiving Jamboree this weekend, October 9 & 10.

There will then be a full game on Sunday in either 9-man or 12-man format depending on interest from teams in each division. There will be Atom, Pee Wee, Junior Bantam and Bantam Divisions.

Interested participants can contact Ryan Bellamy at [email][email protected] or by phone at (250) 612-2627.

The site of the Thanksgiving Jamboree is Lakewood. Download the entire Northern Minor Football schedule here.

West Kootenay Minor Football Jr. Bantam

The West Kootenay Minor Football Jr. Bantam schedule will be enjoying a bye week this weekend. Their season resumes on Saturday, October 16. Contact Mike Leyte at [email][email protected] for more details.

BC High School Football

The BC High School Football game of the week has last year’s Subway Bowl runners-up – the WJ Mouat Hawks – playing host to the visiting Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers. It is the regular season opener for both squads. The game takes place on Friday, September 8 at WJ Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm.

Each BC High School game of the week is webcast on [url]www.bchighschoolfootball.com and is also featured on the High School Heroes segment on CTV News. For more information on High School Heroes, visit [url]www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/highschoolheroes.

For the complete BC High School game schedule in all division, please visit [url]www.bchighschoolfootball.com.

BC Junior Football

This weekend marks the opening of the playoffs in the BCFC with a pair of semi-final games on the schedule with the winners advancing to meet in the BCFC title game the following week to battle for the Cullen Cup.

On Saturday, October 9, the hottest team heading into the playoffs – the Vancouver Island Raiders (9-1) riding a seven-game win streak – will play host to the Big Kahuna Rams (5-5) at Caledonia Park in Nanaimo. Don’t expect the defending CJFL champions Raiders to take their opponents lightly despite the fact they won both meetings against the Rams in the regular season. The Rams enter the playoffs having won two games in a row, albeit both victories came against the winless Chilliwack Huskers. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm. For ticket information, visit [url]www.viraiders.ca.

On Sunday, October 10, the top-seeded Okanagan Sun (9-1) will play host to the Victoria Rebels (4-6) at the Apple Bowl – the same team they pounded last Sunday by a 50-15 score. The Sun enter the game riding a six-game win streak while the Rebels dropped their final two regular season games both coming against the Sun. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm. For ticket information, visit [url]www.okanagansun.ca.

For more on the BCFC, please visit [url]www.bcjuniorfootball.ca.

University Football

A win this week for either the UBC Thunderbirds or the SFU Clan in Shrum Bowl XXXIII won’t mean anything as far as their standings go in their respective leagues, but for two programs desperate to get off lengthy losing skids a win could go a long way towards building some much-needed momentum to close out the regular season.

The T-Birds head into the bye-week of their regular season with a 1-4 record after suffering their third straight loss last Saturday to the Calgary Dinos. The Clan, meanwhile, fell to 0-4 in conference play after a loss to the Dixie State Red Storm last Saturday.

This Friday’s Shrum Bowl marks the first between the cross-town rivals since SFU’s departure from the CIS and entry this season into the NCAA’s Division II. The Clan hold a 16-15-1 lead in the all-time Shrum Bowl series.

Generally admission tickets for the game are $15 and just $2 for UBC students (with valid ID). Partial proceeds will be donated to the BC Football Hall of Fame. For group rates, pre-purchase or more information, please contact [email][email protected] or call 604.822.3094.

For more information on the UBC Thunderbirds, please visit [url]www.gothunderbirds.ca. For more information on the SFU Clan, please visit [url]www.sfu.ca/athletics.

By Daniel Fung: Football BC