Watcing the Grade 10 football team from Robert Bateman Secondary play the game, it's clear that this group of Timberwolves seems to thrive on sound of shoulder pads colliding.
The Clarence Fulton Maroons found that out first-hand on Wednesday afternoon, as the T-Wolves turned in a punishing physical performance en route to a comprehensive 69-0 victory over the visitors from Vernon in the B.C. junior AA quarter-finals.
"We come to play every game like it's a street fight against Mike Tyson in a dark alley," Bateman coach Kelly Lochbaum said afterward. "That's our style of football. On offence or defence, we just run through people. If someone comes out hard, we go harder. We don't back down."
Ben Cummings set the tone for the Timberwolves in Wednesday's game, played at Mouat Field. On the very first play from scrimmage, the Grade 10 running back busted loose for a 40-yard touchdown run.
Cummings would finish the game with five TDs – three rushing, one punt return and one kickoff return. The defence and special teams generated three majors – an interception return by Austen Zacher, a fumble recovery in the end zone by Chris Ward, and a blocked punt return by Taeler Lochbaum.
Zacher, with a rushing touchdown, and Kole Lochbaum, with a 75-yard kickoff return, rounded out the Bateman scoring.
The T-Wolves move on to face the John Barsby Bulldogs of Nanaimo in the B.C. semifinals. That game goes next Wednesday in Nanaimo.
The Bulldogs are coming off a lopsided victory over their own, as they beat Holy Cross 53-0 on Wednesday, and they eliminated Bateman from the playoffs last year.
"We're going to need to play a perfect game to beat Barsby," Lochbaum noted.