The Timberline Wolves’ pre-season wrapped up this past Saturday with a thorough trouncing of the defending Tier 2 Champions Frank Hurt Hornets 61-12.
The Wolves have outscored opponents 155 to 32 in three exhibition games against Mainland Division Tier 2 opponents.
“Our focus now returns to our traditional Vancouver Island opponents for the next five weeks, as we need to collect points to make a playoff run,” said Wolves Head Coach Martin Jaunzemis. “We start next Saturday with zero points in the standings and one hiccup in the regular season can change things in a hurry. Our traditional Island opponents Vanier and Belmont are going to be gunning for us, we know that.
“We also see a team in Sooke, EJ Milne that is quietly sneaking up on people and gave us a scare taking us to a Texas Shootout in OT last year.”
The Wolves are multi dimensional in 2011. The passing game is as good or better compared to the last two years, the running game could be even better.
The Wolves led by QB Dylan Tucker are known for their aerial show the last few years, have thrown the ball 60 times with 41 completions for 604 yards and 6 TD’s.
The ground game is the hidden gem that nobody has quite realized yet, racking up 721 yards and 14 TD’s in the first three games.
“So far it has not been one player, Mike Weston starts the game, Hunter McKay follows up, and behind them Chris Lund is raring to go, we always have a fresh body at tailback and our slots Rob Vlaj and Johnny Evenson also contribute big in the ground game,” said the head coach.
Look for Vlaj, Evenson, Greg Perry and Mitch Nemeth to put on the traditional air show in coming weeks.
Defensively, the Wolves have been very tough for opponents to score on. Defensive Coach Steve Koehler has had the defence playing on the south side of the line of scrimmage almost all of the pre-season. The result is a Tier 2 league leading average of only 10 points allowed per game in the pre-season.
Look for D-line newcomers Eric Wright, David Young, and Carsen Black to get together with veteran Cody Gent and Linebackers Duncan Howard and James Danylchuk to decimate opponents in the coming weeks.
“Coach Koehler has lots of fresh bodies on defence for the first time I can remember. We have not even mentioned the O-line yet, James Danychuk, Andrew Weinstein, Blake Heemskerk, Justin Evenson, and Louis Patterson, with the exception of James have all been playing one-way for the most part. They are fresh every time we step on the field. These guys finished the pre-season with a great game, I hope to seen it get even better as we move along,” said Jaunzemis.
The Wolves will be Home for the next three weeks against Gulf Islands, GP Vanier and Belmont before finishing the regular season against Mark Isfield and then EJ Milne.
Home Games start at 1:25 p.m Saturdays at Timberline.