In a first-place showdown between a pair of unbeaten teams, it was the North Langley Kodiaks getting the better of the Langley Stampeders.
The two midget football rivals squared off at McLeod Athletic Park on Saturday, both sporting 5-0 records.
The Stampeders would take the opening drive down the field for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead, but from that point on, it was all Kodiaks.
Mason Block, Daniel Evanow and Austin Benzel would spend the rest of the game in the Stamps’ backfield, stopping the Langley running game in its tracks as well as delivering several quarterback sacks.
And any ball-carrier who made it through the line of scrimmage was quickly greeted by the quartet of Ryan Barthelson, Nick Lacroix, Yunjae Boo, and Timothy Janke.
Offensively, Drey Blair delivered the damage, rushing for close to 200 yards and four touchdowns.
One of those touchdowns was a spectacular 107-yard run in the fourth quarter.
While they never found the end zone, running backs Ethan Bernardin and Jared Slater were effective in moving the chains.
Junior bantam
In another battle for first place, the North Langley Bears won a defensive struggle 8-6 over the Meadow Ridge Knights on Saturday at McLeod Athletic Park.
The Knights would score early and nurse a 6-0 lead for much of the game, but that all changed in the fourth quarter.
Mathieu Gale moved the ball down the field with seven consecutive runs, as well as throwing for a 20-yard completion to Marco Kee, before capping the drive off with a touchdown run.
And while the Knights failed on their convert attempt, the Bears would make no mistake, prevailing by the tight 8-6 score.
A big key in the fourth quarter was the solid offensive line and good lead blocking for Gale.
Defensively, the Bears secondary had a good game with Caleb Price, Ezekiel Bodill, Isaiah Hollingsworth and Ryder Croome swarming the Knights’ receivers and coming through with solid tackles when they did catch the ball.
Austin Pattenden led the way in the tacking department while Tydus Schroeder contributed on both sides of the ball.
Atom
The Meadow Ridge Knights came to Langley and handed the Bears a 46-0 loss. Noah Hollingsworth and Colten Lifton came up with a pair of big touchdown-saving tackles at the goal-line.
Sam Sieben had several big runs, but the Bears could not string together much offensive success.
Peewee
North Langley could not get their offence on track, falling 34-0 to Meadow Ridge.
Evan Hoy and Ben Evans managed a few short runs while Eli Linden was solid in kickoff returns. Defensively, Talon Schroeder, Aiden McMurtry, Armaan Lehal and Brody Hunter were solid for the defence.
Bantam
North Langley fell 19-1 to the Chilliwack Giants.
Despite the loss, the team has several strong performances, especially considering players were forced to play out of position because of injury.
Mikele Buckley was on the offensive side of the ball while Zach Rohan and Kaleb Reemeyer did well as they played on the defensive side for the first time.
Connor Bernardin did a great job locking down the receiver from his cornerback position and James Robbins came through with several impressive tackles.
At centre, Ethan Holland did well to deliver the snap despite the constant pressure from the Giants’ defensive line.
And Michael Morgenrood nearly pulled off an impressive catch deep down the field, only to have the referees rule the ball came loose.
