After winning their first game against the Penticton Cougars by forfeit when the away team failed to make the game, the Columbia Valley Bighorns had a tougher fight to beat them this past Sunday, when the two teams finally tangled at Bighorns Field.

Though the Bighorns took the lead in the first half, the Cougars roared back in the second, narrowing the score to 32-24 for the Bighorns. “We outplayed them in the first half, and they outplayed us in the second half,” says head coach Bruce Marlow.

“The had more depth. The coach really had them ready. They had about six players more than us, so it put us in a position where they just played their hearts out the whole second half, and our guys got a bit disheartened. But they held on and won.”

This is the team’s second win of the season, but next week they’ll face off against the only team to give them a loss so far this year: the Vernon Magnums.

“They beat us two weeks ago in a pretty good thrashing,” Marlow says. But he says his own team is also starting to gel nicely.

“Our leaders have stepped up. (Quarterback) Ryley Purdy is by far a great leader on our team… Our receivers are doing well and our offensive and defensive lines are just playing like machines.”