After a tragic loss to the Howe Sound varsity football team, the Belmont Bulldogs have been ousted from the provincial championships.
“We have some devastated players and coaches,” said Kevin Harrington, Bulldogs varsity head coach.
“They are all pretty upset and it was a tough day at school today.”
The Bulldogs hosted the semi-finals game against the Howe Sound team on Friday and lost in a close match of 19-14.
“We came out flat and couldn’t tackle,” said head coach Kevin Harrington. “It was 19-0 in the first half. (Howe Sound) is a very good running team.”
During half-time the coaches tweaked both the defensive and offensive lineups.
With their heads held high the Bulldogs entered the second half of the game with determination and drive.
“They never gave up. We told them ‘You need to believe you can win of you want to win,’” Harrington said.
The Bulldogs earned 14 points in the second half.
“We had some good long reverse passes and some hook and ladder plays,” Harrington said.
With little more than a minute left in the game Howe Sound had punted the ball into the Bulldogs five yard line.
“We pushed it to their 40 (yard line) and we had four plays to get a chance to get a large score,” Harrington said.
“If we had a couple more minutes on the clock we would have won. But unfortunately we ran out of time.”
Even though the players are upset with the loss, Harrington said they are all keen on getting back on the field and preparing for next year.
“We will start training again soon,” Harrington said.
All of the junior varsity and varsity players will hit the field on Wednesday in a fun scrimmage.
The teams will have their year end banquet on Dec. 5.
reporter@goldstreamgazette.com