TEAMS BATTLE THROUGH WEATHER AT 2024 KOOTENAY BOWL
- Admin
- Oct 28, 2024
- 3 min read
CRANBROOK - The wet and cold weather wasn't enough to dampen the spirits of the 14 teams as they competed for the Kootenay Bowl over the weekend to wrap up the 2024 Kootenay Football League fall season.
With the wind and rain calming for the finals, the Kimberley Lions and Nelson Eagles emerged victorious in their respective senior and junior divisions to claim Kootenay Bowl titles for the fall season.
The 2024 event featured the leagues first-ever two day tournament which took place at Cranbrook's Mount Baker Secondary. The opening day on Saturday saw all 14 teams in the two age categories take part in interlock games pitting East division teams against West division opponents. Sunday's elimination playoff format provided for some intense competition and the crowning of our fall champions.
JUNIOR On the junior side, the Creston Colts led the West division standings with a 3-1 record, followed by Castlegar, Nelson and Trail. The East standings were topped by the Kimberley Lions, with a 3-0-1, mark ahead of Cranbrook, Fernie and Golden.
In the divisional quarter-final round, Nelson, Kimberley, Creston, and Fernie were all victors, sending the remaining four teams to the knockout round. Cranbrook and Golden eliminated Trail and Castlegar, respectively in the first knockout games, while Kimberley and Creston advanced to the A side semifinals with wins over Fernie and Nelson.
In another round of knockout games, Kimberley and Fernie prevailed over Cranbrook and Golden to keep their title hopes alive. The two winners would square off in the next round with Kimberley advancing to the final knockout game against Nelson who lost in the A semifinal to Creston.
Nelson would get their shot at revenge against Creston in the Big Final after beating Kimberley in the final survivor game. In the final it was the Nelson Eagles coming all the way back to score a late touchdown and take the 2024 Kootenay Bowl title!
SENIOR With less teams, the senior playoffs were more straight forward. Kimberley and Castlegar received a bye to the quarter-final round after topping their divisions. Nelson defeated Cranbrook and Invermere knocked off Creston in the play-in round.
In the quarter-finals, it was Kimberley cruising through the semis over Invermere while Nelson topped Castlegar in a tight game. The first set of knockout games saw Castlegar beat Creston and Cranbrook best Invermere setting up a matchup between the two winners in a survivor game. Castlegar would go on to win to advance to the B semifinal where they would face Nelson again who had just dropped a fiery game with Kimberley in the A semifinal.
Castlegar would keep the magic going with a win over their west rivals Nelson in the B semifinal to get back to the championship game. In the final, a close game at half leaned the way of the Lions in the second half as Kimberley earned the 2024 Kootenay Bowl Championship!
FULL PLAYOFF RESULTS:
--
Due to Sunday's weather, the inaugural all-star game had to be cancelled as teams set their sights on competing all of the playoff rounds and championship games before conditions became unplayable. Despite the loss of the all-star game, some standout performances were recognized with individual awards. The Kootenay Bowl Outstanding Player awards were issued to a player from each the West and East divisions and the Senior and Junior age groups.
2024 Fall Kootenay Bowl Outstanding Player Awards:
SR EAST - Ziggy Kurucz - Kimberley
SR WEST - Owen Anderson - Castlegar
JR EAST - Landon Bazley - Kimberley
JR WEST - Niko Kozlowski - Nelson
---
The Kootenay Football League, in partnership with NFL FLAG, was launched by the Rocky Mountain Rams Football Association (Cranbrook) in the fall of 2022 with a four-team league. NFL Flag is a fast paced 5-on-5 format played on smaller fields, with plenty of action for all players, More information on the KFL and Rams Football can be found at RMRFOOTBALL.CA
Comments