Hounds Are Cloverwood Champs!
Saturday, October 14th, 2017 -- 7:13 AM
The Loyal Greyhound football team won their first ever outright Conference championship on Friday night, beating Abbotsford 8-7.It was a defensive battle throughout a scoreless first half as Abbotsford was able to get into the red zone just once before Loyal stopped them on downs and Loyal did not make it into red zone at all in the first half.
In the second half, Abbotsford struck first. After taking the opening kickoff of the half, in just a couple of plays, Ean Rau outraced the Loyal defense down the sideline for a 71 scoring run to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead.
That lead stuck until a little over midway through the 4th quarter when Loyal was able to sustain a drive thanks to a 29 yard run by Hunter Much and a couple of pass completions from quarterback Quinn Brussow. With a 3rd and goal from the 2, Clayton Rarick went off left tackle and scored, making it 7-6. Loyal then went for the two-point conversion and Rarick converted on what looked like a carbon copy of the touchdown run to give the Greyhounds the lead at 8-7.
Abbotsford would fumble on their next possession but held Loyal on downs. The Falcons then turned the ball over again on an interception near mid-field, but Loyal could not run out the clock and Abbotsford got the ball back with less than :20 left. A last second throw downfield by Rau was knocked down by Loyal and the Hounds hung on for the big win.
Unofficially, Rau lead all rushers with 147 yards on 22 carries. Joe Aguilera added 49 yards on 10 carries. Rau was 3 for 8 for 33 yards through the air with an interception.
For Loyal, Rarick led the way with 67 yards on the ground on 19 carries and Much had 59 yards on 12 carries. Brussow finished 3 for 12 for 33 yards passing.
Loyal finishes the season unbeaten in the Cloverwood Conference at 7-0 and 7-2 overall. Abbotsford finishes 6-1 in the conference and 7-2 overall. Both will wait to see this afternoon who their opponent will be in the playoffs next week.
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