The White Rock-South Surrey Titans took to the air en route to a flag-division victory Sunday over the Coquitlam Crushers.
The Titans edged the host Crushers 12-9, and three of the White Rock touchdowns came on passes – a rarity in the flag-division games.
“It’s virtually unheard of. It was quite a game,” said Titans’ flag-division coach Dave Reiffer.
The Titans opened the scoring when quarterback Bud Beliveau connected on a pass to Marley Reiffer-Rodriguez, and after Coquitlam tied the game with a TD of their own, Beliveau and Reiffer-Rodriguez connected again for their second score of the day, to restore the lead.
The duo added a third passing touchdown in the second half, and Reiffer-Rodriguez rounded out the scorn with his fourth touchdown of the day, this time on a running play.
Defensively, the Titans – now 4-1 on the season – got strong performances from Brayden Hooper – also the team’s kicker – and Maxwell Chakrabarti.
The Titans’ midget team also added a win to their record, with a one-point 18-17 win over the North Delta Longhorns Sunday afternoon at Delta’s John Oliver Park.
The Titans, the reigning provincial champions, and Longhorns played to a scoreless draw through the first quarter, and the team’s traded second-quarter TDs, though the Titans trailed by one at halftime after their conversion attempt was blocked.
Early in the second half, Delta capped a 12-play drive with a 32-yard touchdown run, and in the final quarter added a field goal to increase the lead to 11 points.
With three minutes remaining in the game, Titans quarterback Zack Skene scored on a 19-yard run. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 17-12, but a successful onside kick from Peter Kilberg was scooped up and run in for a touchdown by Willie Watson.
The Longhorns, down by one point, tried to mount a late comeback, but a quarterback sack from White Rock’s Jesse Lawson ended the game.
Defensively, Bobby Devaney had an interception for the Titans, while Jake Hurst, Harrison Allen and Travis McDonald also made a number of big plays.
The atom-division Titans were also in action last weekend, falling 30-18 to the Langley Broncos at McLeod Park, while White Rock’s peewee squad also lost its road game, 30-14 to the Cloverdale Lynx.
The Titans junior-bantam squad had a bye week.
In the atom contest, White Rock’s two touchdowns came from Dylan Gemekas, who scored on a one-yard run, and Ethan Webster, who had a nine-yard TD run late in the first half.
In the peewee tilt, Balsher Randhawa scored on a long TD run.