Local football fans will get their first chance to see – and hear – the Nanaimo Redmen this weekend.
The Vancouver Mainland Football League midget team plays its home opener Sunday (Sept. 11) at May Richards Bennett Pioneer Park.
Coach Sean Roden said when this year’s Redmen team plays football, there arises a clatter of football pads smacking against football pads.
“We play a pretty spirited brand of football,” Roden said. “There were a lot of big hits there [in last weekend’s season opener] and I would expect that pretty much every game of the season.”
The targets on Sunday will be Meadow Ridge Knights players. Nanaimo handled Maple Ridge in its pre-season jamboree and expects to be able to push around the visitors again.
“We’re not going to look past them, obviously, you never know what can happen on game day,” Roden said. “But we believe, both offensively and defensively, that we don’t have to adjust to Meadow Ridge … We will just do what we do.”
The Redmen will mostly stick to their run-centric game plan, said the coach, but may try more passing plays to build confidence in that area.
GAME ON … The Redmen and Knights play at 3 p.m. … The contest is the second half of a doubleheader at the north end venue, as the Nanaimo and Meadow Ridge bantams will take to the field at 1 p.m.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com