WJ Mouat Hawks vs St. Thomas More Knights

The W.J. Mouat Hawks senior varsity football team has advanced to the AAA quarterfinal after a resounding 34-0 win over the St. Thomas More College Knights at Panther Field on Friday (Nov. 8). 

The wildcard round win marks the second straight shutout for the Hawks, who closed the regular season with a 27-0 win over the Mt. Boucherie Bears on Nov. 1.

But the game didn't start out as planned for the Hawks, as the Knights opened the game with a short kickoff and recovered the ball themselves. Mouat's defence eventually forced them to turnover on downs and running back Joel Muller's rushing touchdown put the home team up 7-0 early.

Muller added another rushing touchdown in the second quarter and late in the quarter saw Max Pratt go 75 yards on a fake punt to make it 21-0 at halftime. 

Mouat's running game continued to shine in the second half, with Eddie Geelhoed scoring a pair of short yardage majors to reach the 34-0 final score. 

"They're a running team and they play a sort of old school style of offence," he said of the Knights, who ran very few passing plays. "It made for a tough week of preparation but Coach [Daniel] Mills did a great job preparing them."

Harder did say that he would like his defence to try to get more stops and give the offence more opportunities for possession, noting his team only had the ball three times in the first half. 

Mouat's rushing attack was balanced with five players picking up significant yardage on the ground. Charlie Franson led the way with 86, including a 64-yard dash in the fourth quarter. Max Pratt had 75, Muller recorded 60, quarterback Elijah Black collected 52 and Geelhoed had 38.

Petrayus Loller led the team with 51 yards receiving, but Mouat only completed five passing plays for 83 yards in the game. 

Geelhoed was also a standout defensively, with a team-high eight tackles and one sack. Gabe Currie and Nazeef Rahman added six tackles apiece. 

Mouat now advances to the quarterfinal round and will next host the New Westminster Hyacks at Panther Field on Friday (Nov. 15) at 7 p.m. 

The Hyacks defeated the Notre Dame Jugglers 42-40 on Friday. New Westminster finished the regular season at 4-2, good for second place in the AAA's Central Division.