Wolves take bite out of Big Kahuna

BURNABY, BC. - The Skyline Spartans have called the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex their second home for years now. And the Big Kahuna 7-on-7 Passing Challenge championship trophy has been a fixture in the Spartans' trophy case at school, but no longer.

In their first ever trip up north, the Eastlake Wolves - powered by the four title game touchdown receptions by Jared Fagan - overpowered the Spartans 44-29.

Outside of All-Tournament Defensive MVP Ryan Edwards, no Spartan had played at Big Kahuna, making it one of head coach Steve Gervais' youngest Skyline teams ever, but they still made the title game before bowing out to Eastlake. And the Wolves gained a measure of revenge on the Interlake Saints too. The Saints - coached by former Puyallup and North Carolina quarterback Luke Huard - were ousted by Skyline. Earlier in the year Interlake had defeated Eastlake at a 7-on-7 passing tournament held at the University of Washington.

Those three teams, along with Ferris High School out of Spokane - another first-timer to Big Kahuna - made it clear from the outset that they would all meet in the semi-finals, and they did. West Vancouver defeated WJ Mouat in a bit of an upset to give West Van the highest Canadian finish of the tournament.

In the Lineman Challenge, it was once again Skyline that flexed their muscles to take the crown, but it was a bigger struggle than they anticipated. Anchored by Drew Schaefer, the Wolves defeated the Spartans in the tug-of-war matchup that ended up being a Battle Royale. After the loss, the Spartan big men compounded their problems by also losing to New Westminster, but won their last battle to salvage some pride and the title. Also included in the Lineman Challenge was the tire throw, bench press, five-man truck push and obstacle course.

A huge thank you to Farhan Lalji and his wife Mary for always putting on a great show in Burnaby, and to all the other volunteers, referees and concessions folks that make Big Kahuna the best passing challenge in the Northwest!

Big Kahuna 7-on-7 Passing Challenge information:
US Participants:
Bellingham
Blaine
Eastlake
Elma
Ferris
Interlake
Lakewood
Mount Vernon
Orting
Shelton
Skyline
Squalicum

Canadian Participants:
Barsby
Centennial
Frank Hurt
Handsworth
Kelowna
Mission
New Westminster
North Surrey
Rick Hansen
Seaquam
Vancouver College
West Vancouver
WJ Mouat

Champions - Eastlake
Runners-up - Skyline
Third - Ferris
Fourth - West Vancouver
Fifth - Shelton
Sixth - Interlake
Seventh - WJ Mouat
Eighth - Lakewood

Lineman MVP - Nathaniel Willingham (Skyline)

All-Tournament team - Offense:
RB Jared Fagan (Eastlake) - MVP
QB Tanor Johnson (Eastlake)
WR Justin Helwege (Eastlake)
WR Phil Tushar (Skyline)
WR Jared Karstetter (Ferris)

All-Tournament team - Defense:
DB Ryan Edwards (Skyline)
DB Lucas Hufford (Eastlake)
DB JD Schultz (Interlake)
DB Shawn Stockton (Ferris)
LB John Smeytsers (WJ Mouat)