Dramatic Finishes to End Day 1 at Senior Flag National Championships

(Photo by Gerry Kripps/BCPFA)

KAMLOOPS (June 28, 2024) – The afternoon started with some blowouts, but the evening ended with some last-second dramatics on the men’s fields on the first day of the 2024 Senior Flag National Championships. Alberta picked up their first win ever at Senior Flag National championships in dramatic fashion with a catch in traffic by Bryce Hickson on a hail mary by Arthur Garland followed by a last-second interception to secure a 27-26 victory over the BC Gators. On the other men’s field in a back-and-forth game, the Winnipeg Rebellion picked off the convert attempt by the Party Crashers to sneak away with the 33-32 victory and end the day 1-1. James Teshuk has led the way to Winnipeg with 5 touchdowns so far through two games. Both the Gators and Party Crashers will be looking to secure their first victories on Day 2 after finishing the first day 0-2.

The Braves de Montreal and Vancity Vice took care of business and remain undefeated with 2-0 records. The Braves were led offensively by James Drysdale who caught 5 touchdown passes and 3 two-point converts from Quarterback Jonathon Maheu in 47-0 and 47-21 victories over the BC Gators and Winnipeg Rebellion. Eric Eggleston was a threat on both sides of the field, catching 4 touchdowns and 2 one-point conversions on offence while also returning two interceptions for touchdowns as the Vancity Vice beat Team Alberta 39-12 and Party Crashers 47-21. The two teams will battle it out to start the day with a match-up at 9:15 a.m. and hope to keep their momentum going to secure a Top 4 finish to make it to semi-finals on Sunday.

In Pool A on the women’s side, the Monarchs are off to a perfect start 2-0 start to the tournament with a close 28-26 victory over Sweet Heat and followed it up with a 51-13 triumph over West Coast Reign. Marianne Quirion has been a major threat on offense for the Monarchs with 6 touchdowns and 2 one-point converts. Sweet Heat battled back from their first game defeat with a 52-20 victory over Regina. Quarterback Christine Eberle led Day 1 with 12 passing touchdowns, with 5 of those touchdowns going to Olivia Gordon. Regina also sits at 1-1 with Brenna Metz leading the way with 6 touchdowns and 4 one-point converts. West Coast Reign got themselves on the board in game number two against Monarchs and will conclude pool play against Sweet Heat at 10:30am.

In Pool B, Cayenne is alone at the top after wins over MVP Sniper (41-7) and EZ-E (35-7) and has secured themselves top spot in their pool. They’ve had success spreading the ball with Clara Beaudoin leading the way with 3 touchdowns, Émilie Papillon and Julianne Fortin with two touchdowns each and their defense providing two touchdowns. EZ-E got themselves in the win column early with a 34-0 victory over the BC storm before falling to Cayenne. Megan Hamm has been explosive for EZ-E and leads the team with 5 touchdowns. MVP Sniper battled back from their earlier loss to Cayenne with a 31-8 victory over BC Storm to end the day. MVP Sniper Quarterback Julie Van has been utiziling all their targets, with Subecca Vasanthakumaran and Yalini Sutharsan each finishing the day with two touchdowns apiece. EZ-E and MVP Sniper will battle it out for second place in Pool B. BC Storm will be looking to build some momentum before playoffs with a tough morning matchup against Cayenne to wrap up pool play.

WOMENS

Pool play concludes on Saturday, with games at 10:30 a.m. at Hillside Stadium. All four teams in each pool will advance to the quarterfinals and cross over with the other pool. The championship semifinals are set for 10:30 a.m. on Sunday with the bronze medal game set for 1:00 p.m. and the championship at 2:15 p.m.

MENS

Pool play concludes on Saturday, with games at 9:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. at Hillside Stadium. The top 4 teams will advance to the semi-finals. The championship semifinals are set for 10:30 a.m. on Sunday with the bronze medal game set for 1:00 p.m. and the championship at 3:30 p.m.

More information on the tournament and updates as each day progresses are available on the Football Canada website at https://footballcanada.com/event/2024-senior-flag-national-championships/

The updated schedule can be found here: https://leagues.teamlinkt.com/footballcanada/Schedule

All the action can be watched live on Hometeam Live: https://app.hometeamlive.com/#/home/events/45

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Senior Flag National Championships

All game at Hillside Stadium, Kamloops, BC.

Pool standings after Day 1:

Men’s

Team	W	L	T	PF	PA	+/-	Pts
Braves de Montréal	2	0	0	94	21	73	4
Vancity Vice	2	0	0	86	33	53	4
Team Alberta	1	1	0	39	65	-26	2
Winnipeg Rebellion	1	1	0	54	79	-25	2
BC Gators	0	2	0	26	74	-48	0
Party Crashers	0	2	0	53	80	-27	0

Women’s – Pool A

Team	W	L	T	PF	PA	+/-	Pts
Monarchs	2	0	0	79	39	40	4
Sweet Heat	1	1	0	78	48	30	2
Regina AFFL	1	1	0	75	52	23	2
West Coast Reign	0	2	0	13	106	-93	0

Women’s – Pool B

Team	W	L	T	PF	PA	+/-	Pts
Cayenne	2	0	0	76	14	62	4
EZ-E	1	1	0	41	35	6	2
MVP Sniper	1	1	0	38	49	-11	2
BC Storm	0	2	0	8	65	-57	0

Men’s Tournament leaders:

	#	Name	Team
TD Passes	13	Jonathan Maheu	Braves de Montreal
Rushing TDs	1	Alexis Jourdain	Party Crashers
Receiving TDs	5	James Teschuk & James Drysdale	Winnipeg Rebellion & Braves de Montreal
Defensive TDs	2	Eric Eggleston	Vancity Vice
1-pt Conversions	2	Eric Eggleston & Lliam Wishart	Vancity Vice
2-pt Conversions	3	James Drysdale	Braves de Montreal
Sacks	3	Darnell Wyke	Team Alberta
Interceptions	3	Kreig Yeh	Vancity Vice

Women’s Tournament leaders:

	#	Name	Team
TD Passes	12	Christine Eberle	Sweet Heat
Rushing TDs	1	Yalini Sutharsan	MVP Sniper
Receiving TDs	6	Brenna Metz & Marianne Quirion	Regina & Monarchs
Defensive TDs	1	Jessica Mompoint, Chloe Argue, Laurianne Beauchamp, Megan Hamm, Anne-Frédérique Tardif	Monarchs, Regina, Cayenne, EZ-E, & Monarchs
1-pt Conversions	4	Brenna Metz	4
2-pt Conversions	1	Annie Tyers-Lagacé, Megan Hamm, Brenna Bouchard	Cayenne, EZ-E, & BC Storm
Sacks	3	Léa Duval	Cayenne
Interceptions	2	Megan Hamm, Océanne Samson, & Laurence Caron	EZ-E, Monarchs, & Cayene