In the 20th anniversary of the Ballenas football program, the AA Varsity and JV teams are in the mix for provincial championships. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Dan Marshall

Championship Dreams

Ballenas in the running for two BC High School football titles

Nov 21, 2019 | 4:37 PM

PARKSVILLE — The Ballenas Whalers high school football program is looking to win a pair BC championships.

The AA Varsity squad will play Vernon at BC Place in the semi finals on Nov. 23 while the Junior Varsity squad has advanced to the title game slated for Nov. 30.

Dan Smith coaches both programs and said this is the most talent he’s seen at both levels in 19 years on and off with Ballenas.

“We knew at the beginning of the season that we had lots of talent. We have one coaching staff and we coach both teams. The way we juggle that is we coach both teams at the same time together.”

Smith says different coaches will be assigned more junior or senior responsibilities and it’s his job to oversee it all.

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He admitted it’s not easy but with a lot of talent on the field it’s been working well.

The AA Varsity team is undefeated after going 4-0 in the regular season and then beating Robert Bateman 35-14 in the quarter finals.

They’ll face a Vernon Panthers squad that is ranked number one in AA.

Smith noted the key to shutting Vernon down is stopping MVP quarterback Zack Smith.

“He’s very fast, he’s very deceptive when he runs, so tackling in the open field and getting him before he gets started is something we’ll be really focusing on.”

Offence, defence and special teams units will all be getting a lot of reps at practice but Smith believes a great defence puts teams in a position to win a championship.

The Varsity squad is made up of Grade 11 and 12 students and has six international students, including two starters on the offensive line.

“One’s from Vietnam and the other is from Mexico. We also have a really good running back from Germany who’s just turned 16.

The Junior Varsity side finished their season at 5-1 and were dominant in the quarterfinals by beating Robert Bateman 28-8 and taking care of South Kamloops 42-6 in the semis.

Their opponent in the provincial championship game is Windsor Secondary out of North Vancouver.

Windsor also finished 5-1 in the regular season and went through Vernon and G.W. Graham en route to the final.

The Ballenas JV’s are a mix of Grade 9 and 10 students with a large contingent of athletes who Smith described as having next level potential.

2019 marks the first time both the Varsity and JV squads have made it to provincial semi finals. Smith said that it would be extra special to win two titles on Nov. 30 considering this is the 20th anniversary of the Whalers program.

“If we were able to get both teams in that would be just awesome. It would be a very long day for the coaches, but we’ll take it.”

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77