Congratulations to the Kelowna Lions (8-2) PeeWee team as they defeated the Vernon Yellow Jackets (10-0) this last Sunday.

The final score was 8-6. An opening quarter touchdown by Nolan Ulm, and a successful convert by Nate Portz proved to be the difference.

The Lions had lost both regular season games against the Yellow Jackets, and the game on Sunday proved to be yet another defensive struggle with the Lions finally coming out on top.

They move on to play Abbotsford Black this weekend to represent the SIFC in the Provincial Semi-finals.

West Kelowna Sun Devils Win SIFC Junior Bantam football Title 60-23 Over The Mission Lions
What started out as a close tough game turned into a barn burner with the West Kelowna Junior Bantam Sun Devils taking home the SIFC Championship and a 60-23 win over the defending Provincial Champion Kelowna Mission Lions.

The Devils found themselves down 3-0 early after fumbling the first snap of the game and then (after 2 more fumbles) down 9-8 near the end of the first half, then it all started to click.  The Sun Devils scored on the last play of the half after a key pass reception by Jesse Sligtr to go up 14-9 and never looked back, scoring 8 touchdowns on the day.  The Sun Devils took some inspiration from the return to the field of one of their stars that was injured earlier in the game and Nate Humes returned to the field with roars from the crowd.  Our defense gave the Lions nowhere to run and nowhere to pass as the D line of Nate Humes, Jesse Sligtr, Spencer Lindholm, Nick Kopp, Mark Schuppener dominated the line of scrimmage while timely interceptions by Hunter Desson and Chris Smith shut down the Lions passing attack.

On offense, the O line of Joshua Hilverda, Darius Konstant, Spencer Lindholm, Mark Shuppener, Keaton Gillespie,  Jesse Sligtr and Adam Martin provided lots of room to run the ball and protect our quarterback.

Nate Humes led the offense with 2 rushing TD’s while putting up over 200 yards on the day and 1 special teams TD on a fumble recovery, while Nick Kopp added 3 TD’s and over 100 yards rushing on the day and Ty Truong added TD runs of 40 and 44 yards to get him over 150 yards rushing on the day.  Chris Smith kicked 6 of 7 converts for 12 points and Salem Clark had a solid day at quarterback.

With the Victory the Sun Devils earned a trip to Victoria to face the Victoria Renegades for the BC Provincial Semi Finals, with the winner advancing to the BC Finals the following week in Langley.

A well balanced attack on offense and an aggressive defense was the story of the game for the Lions.

On the opening drive of the game the Lions’ Noah Gross intercepted a pass on Vanderhoof’s first play from scrimmage and ran it back 15 yards for a touchdown.  Gross who played strong on both sides of the ball all day also scored team’s second major on a 25 yard run and forced a fumble on a kick off before the half.  Another key veteran for the Lions was Nate Beauchemin who was a perfect 6 for 6 on point after attempts and also rushed for 3 touchdowns on the day.  The pair of  second year players have played hard and lead the Atom Lions all year with their outstanding effort and focus on the field.   

Defensive ends Aidan Vint and Wilson Holland both were outstanding on the line shutting down the Vikings running game.

Chad Laughren, the Lions Quarterback was named game MVP for directing his team to over 250 yards on total offense.  Laughren ran a controlled offense that saw 7 different players carry the ball.  He also threw for one touch down to Wilson Holland who was named Most Sportsmanlike Player of the game for his work on both sides of the ball.  The offensive line of Keegan Bray, Cory Couch, Dylan McBratney, Leon Johns and Morgan Scott were outstanding as well, protecting the quarterback and opening up lanes for the running backs all game.  Without their efforts the Lions success would have been limited.

This is a great way to end the season for this special group of young players.  As a coach I could not be any prouder of how hard the Lions have practiced and played all year.  Every player on this team contributed to our success.

The Kelowna Mission Atom Lions are: Cory Couch, Wilson Holland, Noah Gross, Leon Johns, Xander Kennedy, Chad Laughren, Morgan Scott, Damon Alfonso, Nate Beauchemin, Alex Mace, Dylan McBratney, Aidan Vint, Kian Bos, Ryan Dekleva, Ethan Irvine, Neven MacQuarrie, Keegan Bray, Riley Campbell, Blake Chapman.  Coaches are Kendall Gross, Paul Beauchemin, Mike Irvine, Dean Kennedy, Tony Bray

The Kelowna Mission Atom Lions have players that are ages 6 to 9 years old.  The Lions play in the Southern Interior Football Conference (SIFC) which features teams from Kelowna, West Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon and Salmon Arm.