Turnovers were costly for the Mt. Boucherie Bears who came up a touchdown short against Centennial Secondary Friday night in BC high school football action at the Apple Bowl.
The Bears tossed four interceptions and fumbled once in the red zone en route to a 28-21 loss to the Centaurs.
Centennial also gained some big yards on kick and punt returns.
"We didn't play very well on offence, turnovers really killed us," said Bears coach Mike Godwin. "Offense and special teams didn't help our cause. I'm not making excuses, they're a good football team, but we matched our weaknesses with their strengths and we really paid for it."
A dangerous kick returner and wide receiver, Nic Greene also made two interceptions as a defender for Centennial, as did safety Keon Fuoco.
Chris Smith led the Bears offence with a 52-yard TD pass from Taylor Knoll, while also throwing a 56-yard TD to Rodney Nucamendi-Snider.
On defense, Smith intercepted two passes, while Jacob Mezei added one pick.
The Bears will have their hands full this coming weekend when they take on the Terry Fox Ravens Friday night in Coquitlam. The perennially-strong Ravens are 2-0 after 57-0 drubbing of WJ Mouat.
"Our guys tend to raise the level of their game against the better teams," Godwin said of the Bears. "We'll need to do that against Fox, they're very good again."
Mission 29 KSS Owls 18
After being soundly shutout in their season opener a week earlier against Tweedsmuir, the visiting KSS Owls were considerably better on Saturday afternoon in a 29-18 loss to Mission Secondary.
Kelowna's Blaise Beauchemin set the tone with a 75-yard kick off return for a touchdown, but penalties and mental mistakes prevented the Owls from getting much momentum.
"It was a tough loss, especially with the great start we had on offense, but we as a coaching staff are leaving here very proud of the team," said Owls coach Chris Cartwright.
"We had a great week of practice and we came to this game feeling really good. We are going to continue to learn from our experiences and work with it"
This Friday night, the Owls will travel to Abbotsford to take in the WJ Mouat Hawks.
Meanwhile, the Rutland Voodoos will kick off their 2016 regular season on Saturday at Earl Marriot.