Could there possibly be a more fitting end for Mike Barry, Eric Eggleston, Kyle Daechsel, Niles Goguen, Daylon Dallyn and Nevil Meyer?
I think not.
The six members of the Westshore Rebels received the perfect send-off in their last home game as junior-eligible football players in Saturday鈥檚 22-20 win over the Kamloops Broncos at Westhills Stadium.
Eggleston had a big first half with four catches for roughly 94 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown grab in the victory and Goguen had a pair of one-yard TD runs.
But there were plenty of other performances that deserved accolades including every single coach on staff that has battled through a long, hard season.聽Or like Chris Pastro鈥檚 four solo tackles and four assists. The rugged linebacker also filled in at centre, yet again, when Kris Briggs was injured in the second half.
Tanner Rodinsky had a fumble recovery and Jake Hauge had a key interception deep in the Rebels鈥� zone as they fought off the Broncos, who charged back with a late TD to make it 22-20.
The two-point conversion was stopped when backup QB Steve Schuweiler was forced out of the pocket with just over eight seconds remaining in the game.
Earlier, Rebels鈥� QB Hunter Lake 鈥� who has been a terrific story for the local BCFC club 鈥� had a spectacular opening half before struggling in the second.
Lake connected with Eggleston for the one TD pass and also completed a two-point conversion to Jordan Rodinsky that tied the game 9-9. That last combination culminated a 75-yard scoring drive that was capped by one of Goguen鈥檚 one-yard runs.
Defensively the under-manned Rebels struggled keeping Broncos runningback Jacob Palmarin corralled during the game.
Palmarin had roughly 14 carries for 120 yards in the first half alone (including a 38-yard TD romp). He added just under another 100 yards on six rushes in the third quarter before leaving the game with muscle contractions.
Starting quarterback Connor Whitelaw completed just one pass in the opening half for Kamloops, which had defeated Westshore 37-36 in their first matchup.
The Rebels now have the tie-breaking advantage should they get a point in Nanaimo next weekend against the Vancouver Island Raiders and both Kamloops and the Valley Huskers lose.
Sure, the Rebels鈥� playoff hopes remain alive, but the chances of moving to the post-season are somewhere between slim and none and Slim just left town 鈥� as the old saying goes.
The Rebels have NEVER defeated the Raiders 鈥� who are currently on a six-game winning streak - since that organization picked up and left town.
But that matters not.
Saturday was Westshore鈥檚 playoff game, at least for six graduating players who couldn鈥檛 wipe smiles off their faces after the win 鈥� especially in this trying season.
鈥淥ur guys will go in there and have some fun,鈥� Rebels head coach Tim Kearse said of Saturday afternoon鈥檚 date in Nanaimo. 鈥淛ust let the chips fall where they may. We鈥檒l shoot all the bullets we have left in our gun next week because that鈥檚 the last game.鈥�
鈥淚f we could beat Nanaimo next week that would cap everything off, totally a Cinderella finish,鈥� said Eggleston. 鈥淏ut getting this win, with the way we did it, feels good.鈥�
As it should, for every single member of this bunch.
