One Vernon team warmed up for an upcoming epic showdown Friday night.
The other took the field Saturday.
The Fulton Maroons dismantled the Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops 50-0 Friday night at Greater Vernon Athletics Park to improve to 2-0 in Okanagan Senior Boys AA Varsity Football League action.
The No. 2-ranked Vernon Panthers (2-0) took on the South Kamloops Titans Saturday afternoon at Greater Vernon Athletics Park. Barring a major upset, both the Panthers and Maroons will be undefeated heading into their Battle of Vernon matchup Friday at 7:30 p.m. at GVAP.
“Obviously we, as a coaching staff, were really happy with our performance on Friday night,” said Fulton head coach Mike Scheller.”We executed very well in all three phases of the game and we played good, mistake free-football.”
The Maroons got four touchdowns from four different players on six plays to open the game.
Quarterback Ike Olson was 3-7 through the air for 88 yards and two touchdowns to Evan Trottier and Teigen Derkach. Cole Hunter, with two majors, Caden Doyle, who ran for 102 yards, and Ryan Rumsey scored on rushes. Trottier took over at QB and threw a score to Koalden Gudeit-Oakden. Trottier also booted six of seven extra points and forced a two-point safety on defence.
“We have a few weapons and that makes our offence hard to defend,” said Scheller. “Olson makes smart decisions. Doyle is a threat to score every time he touches it and he left the game with a 51-yard rush average. Nate Foster had a good game at receiver for us and he brings a good work ethic to our team. Logan Higgs, JJ Heaton and Sean Jasminez played well on our o-line.”
Defensively, Nate Banga led Fulton tacklers with seven while Carson Harrower and Liam Gombrich had five each. Olson and Cole Hunter had quarterback sacks.
“Cole is starting to play like he can and made some nice plays on defence,” said Scheller. “Overall, our defence is shaping into form nicely.”