The Bear Creek Kodiaks defeated the Barrie North Vikings in senior football action Friday afternoon at the Grove Street East school.
The Kodiaks jumped out to an early lead, posting 14 points before the Vikings could register any points on the scoreboard.
Barrie North was determined to get back into the game as they pushed their way back to square the score 14-14 in the third quarter.
The Kodiaks put constant pressure on the Vikings and were rewarded for their drive as they went ahead in the fourth quarter to make it 21-14.
An interception by Bear Creek late in the game, with only three minutes left on the clock, sealed the win for the south-end school as they held off Barrie North to improve their early season record to 2-0. The Kodiaks will travel to Eastview next Friday to take on the Wildcats (1-0) at noon.
Barrie North, meanwhile, falls to 1-1 on the season. The Vikings are heading into a bye week.
Bear Creek head coach Keith Jackson said he was happy to get the win, and a determined effort from his quarterback, but admits he's looking for improvement on the field.
“It was a little sloppy for us,” he told BarrieToday in a post-game interview. “We made a lot of errors, but managed to pull it out in the end. It just shows us what work we need to get done.”
As the coach sees it, his defence needs a little more work, along with getting some missing players back on the team..
“We just need to start dialing in. We’ve had a few injuries that we are overcoming,” Jackson added.
The Bear Creek offence, led by quarterback Justin Cunningham, got the points they needed to win, but more passes need to be completed as the fall football schedule continues, Jackson said.
“Justin was playing great, we just couldn’t catch the ball,” he said. “The ball was there, (we) just couldn’t catch it.”
“It was a good game, we did pretty well,” Cunningham said after the game. “It’s a new season, so we’ve got some new players.”
Barrie North head coach Gary Hamilton said he also sees the need for improvement early on this season for his Vikings.
“All credit to Bear Creek, they played a better game than us and we’ve just got to clean up our mistakes,” he said.
Hamilton said discipline is an area that needs to be worked on if they want to win games.
“Guys have to know their jobs and do their jobs,” he added. “We’ve got some good leaders and we’re young, and we've got hungry players that want to get better, and we are going to get better."
In other Simcoe County Athletic Association (SCAA) senior football action elsewhere on Friday, the Orillia Nighthawks were at Maple Ridge in south-end Barrie to take on the Ravens. Orillia won, 21-14, to improve to 1-1 on the season while Maple Ridge drops to 0-2. The Nighthawks will be at Innisdale (0-1) next Friday to take on the Invaders.
Meanwhile, in junior SCAA action on Friday, Bear Creek was also at Barrie North to take on the Vikings in the late game. Barrie North came away with a big 27-0 victory to improve to 2-0 while the Kodiaks are still looking for their first win and sit at 0-2. The Orillia Nighthawks were in Innisfil to face the Nantyr Shores Tritons, but no score was available as of publication.
On Thursday, the Collingwood Fighting Owls hosted Innisdale. In the senior game, Collingwood beat Innisdale, 16-13, to move to 1-1 while the Collingwood juniors also beat Innisdale, 33-0, to move to 2-0 while the Invaders sit at 1-0.
For more SCAA scores and schedule information, click here.
