The Barsby Bulldogs were dominant in their playoff opener.
John Barsby Secondary School's AA varsity team shut out the Moscrop Panthers 77-0 on Saturday afternoon in B.C. High School Football post-season action at Merle Logan Field.
Barsby wingback Kyle Gach scored six touchdowns on the day – his birthday, no less – to lead the offence.
"I just did my best, trusted my boys … Amazing blocks, that's all I can say," Gach said. "Best birthday I could ever ask for."
Rob Stevenson, Barsby coach, said he doesn't recall a Bulldogs player scoring six TDs in a game. Gach's breakout game came after he played in a backup role during the regular season.
"It's part of our next-man-up philosophy," Stevenson said. "He's a quality athlete, studies the game hard, plays a lot heavier than he weighs and he's running behind a terrific offensive line on a short field, so you can get in the endzone pretty quick."
Barsby's defence, meanwhile, was stifling and didn't allow a first down until the dying moments of the fourth quarter.
The Panthers switched up their offensive game plan for the post-season, but it didn't fool the 'Dawgs.
"We're pretty stubborn about getting out of our base defence…" Stevenson said. "It was really a Week 10 Barsby defence against a Week 1 offence."
Doyle Sosnowski, defensive end, said Barsby "tore it up" on D and stayed focused through all four quarters.
"We've seen all types of offence against our defence. We just stick to our guns and do what we've been doing and it always seems to work out," he said.
Five of Gach's seven carries went for major scores as part of a 134-yard performance, and he added one receiving TD from Austin Olson. Johnson Nguyen was Barsby's leading rusher with 144 yards and two TDs on eight carries. Quarterback Nathanael Durkan had a passing TD and a rushing TD, Cory Fletcher also scored a TD and Rodrigo Poco was 9-for-10 kicking converts.
Defensively, Nguyen had five tackles and a sack and Sosnowski also had five tackles. Matt Cooley, Parker Bowles and Durkan had interceptions and Dylan Saggers recovered a fumble.
GAME ON … Barsby will play against a to-be-determined opponent next Saturday (Nov. 21) at Merle Logan Field. Kickoff time hasn't been finalized but is expected to be at 1 p.m.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
Barsby starts the playoffs with a 77-0 win over Moscrop. Kyle Gach scores 6 touchdowns on his birthday… #bchsfb pic.twitter.com/N4PQTUsPEj
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) November 15, 2015