Winnipeg West will face Team BC in Red River Cup final

Rivalry Night was exactly as advertised. And after an evening of intense play, remarkable catches, highlight-reel touchdowns and even a little pushing and shoving, Team Winnipeg West and Team B.C. Lower Mainland will meet for the 2013 Red River Cup gold medal on Saturday night.

On Wednesday night at Investors Group Field, Shakur Harris (Oak Park High School) caught a beautiful bomb from Declan Kubel on the second play of the game and that set the tone for the evening as Winnipeg West beat Winnipeg East 21-0 in the final game of Day 2 at the Fourth Annual Red River Cup, Under-16 Western Canadian championship.

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In the first game of Rivalry Night, North Saskatchewan runningback Bailey Taylor galloped 68 yards for a score as North Saskatchewan upset South Saskatchewan 14-6 to completely upend all expectations for Saturday’s bronse medal round-robin and gold medal final.

By knocking off South Saskatchewan, North Saskatchewan sent Team B.C. into the gold medal final. All three teams finished 2-2, but B.C. won on points differential. The B.C. squad was the only one of the three deadlocked teams to have a plus differential for the tournament.

“The football was absolutely spectacular today,” said John Makie, director of football operations for Football Manitoba and one of the organizers of the event. “The rivalries were exactly as expected: Hard-fought and intense. It was another great day and night of football.”

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In the all-Winnipeg final game of the day, Winnipeg West runningback Trevor Wright continued his coming out party by running for one touchdown then Elijah Capparos (Valour Patriots) escaped from the pocket and danced 62 yards to the end zone to close out the scoring as West beat East 21-0.

However, head coach Jamie Peters and his Winnipeg East team played treemndous football in this tournament. Undermanned and then crippled by injuries, they played four tight games with some terrific teams and nearly pulled off two major upsets.

Meanwhile, Team B.C. is set to face Team Winnipeg West in the final.

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“They’re certainly a very good team – very good on both sides of the ball and special teams,” said Team BC head coach Sean Roden of Winnipeg West. “I think they have the best player in the tournament in running back Trevor Wright and we have to figure out how to stop him.

 

“We’ll probably game plan for him and then force them to beat us with some other weapons.”

 

It’s going to be a tremendous final. Here is how Day 2 finished up:

 

DAY 2 SCORES
South Saskatchewan 14 B.C. Lower Mainland 0
Winnipeg West 21 North Saskatchewan 0
B.C. Lower Mainland 21 Winnipeg East 14
North Saskatchewan 14 South Saskatchewan 6
Winnipeg West 21 Winnipeg East 0

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2
Winnipeg West                          4-0
B.C. Lower Mainland                    2-2
Saskatchewan South                     2-2
Saskatchewan North                     2-2
Winnipeg East                          0-4

Schedule for Championship Saturday, July 13

Bronze Medal Round Robin
12:00 P.M.: Saskatchewan North vs. Winnipeg East
1:45 P.M.:  Saskatchewan South vs. Saskatchewan North
3:30 P.M.: Winnipeg East vs. Saskatchewan South

Saturday, July 13, Gold Medal Game
Time: 6 P.M.: Winnipeg West vs. B.C. Lower Mainland

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Source:  Scott Taylor, The Huddle Magazine http://thehuddle.co/

Photo credits:  Jordon Nepon, James Carey Lauder, Shawn Coates – The Huddle Magazine http://thehuddle.co/

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