It was a great day and a hard day for Quesnel football lovers as the Cariboo Blue Bombers and the Correlieu Clan brought football back to the Cariboo field, but fell short of victory last Saturday.
The Clan ended the day with an intense game against PGSS Polars.
The Clan started with a bang, but a short bench had the team running out of gas in the second half, which the Polars capitalised on, winning the game 34-23.
“Half these kids were playing both ways, so you just run out of steam,” Josh Nutley, the defensive co-ordinator said.
“Otherwise we were right there the whole game.”
Krauzby Rea-Templeton led the defense with 16 tackles.
Clan scored early on, and at half were leading 13-12.
The third quarter was still competitive, but into the fourth quarter the Clan started tiring and the Polars scored a couple of touchdowns to take the lead and the game.
The peewee teams started the day off at 10 a.m.
Quesnel lined up against Prince George off the top.
The Bombers suffered some injuries and couldn’t quite keep up with Prince George, who took the game 20-14.
Prince George immediately re-took the field against Vanderhoof. Prince George proved themselves unstoppable on the day, winning 7-6.
The final pee wee game brought Vanderhoof and Quesnel together.
Vanderhoof recovered from their loss at the hands of P.G. and came back to win against the hometown bombers, 14-12.
After the pee wee games, the younger atom teams took to the field.
The atom Blue Bombers were undefeated up to the point, but the Prince George Stashers had their number this weekend, taking the game 18-6.
“They figured out our offence and shut us out on the outside,” coach Cody Berge said.
It was the team’s first loss, but Berge was gald to see the players out enjoying the game.
The games drew a good audience, with parents and Correlieu students coming out to watch and support the hometown teams.
Michael Keryluik, one of the organizers of the event and one of the driving forces behind the new Blue Bombers, was happy with the games and the community behind the event.
“Quesnel has really stepped up,” Keryluik said.
“The parents, the players, everybody has really done a great job of putting on the event. People were really pulling together.”
Team parents even had Blue Bomber t-shirts made to sell to raise money for the team.