The blue and white of Ballenas made a bit of history on home field Wednesday, blasting the Belmont Bulldogs 44-0 in BC High School AA junior varsity football action.

The Whalers scored on the second play of the game when Justin Holland threw a 45 yard post corner to a wide open Dustin Rodriguez.

And so it went. Parksville took a 34-0 lead into the half, and coasted to the win.

A great team effort as seen by all the stats, it was Rodriguez, the highest scoring junior varsity player in all of B.C., who really stood out.

He finished the day with four catches for 169 yards and two TDs. Rodriguez rushed three times for 83 yards and another TD, and he was five-for-six kicking the point after,  putting him at 26 points on the day.

Fittingly, the blue chipper booted his way into the books late in the third quarter from 27 yards out when he became the first Whaler kicker (jvs or seniors) to split the uprights for a field goal in the club’s 10 year history.

“I know it sounds crazy ... and the thing is we’ve had some good kickers over the years,” JV Whalers head coach Anthony Wall said. “I mean it’s always a situational thing. If we were in close we trusted our offense more than the holder snapper and kicker. Plus you have to have a kid that has a good leg on him.”

Not this year, as the field goal has suddenly become an option.

Kick, run, pass and catch. Rodriguez is doing it all this season, and by the looks of things, having a ball.

“He’s a machine,” one fired up fan whooped as Rodriguez shucked and jived his way through traffic on the way to another big gain.

Rounding out the scoring was Tyson Hunt, who rushed for 65 yards and a TD on eight touches. Bruising fullback Matt Vandervelde pounded in two TDs from in close. On the second one he dragged a 300 pound defensive lineman a good eight yards into the end-zone on his back.

“That was hilarious,” chuckled Wall. “He just refused to go down.”

Holland had a strong game at pivot, going 6-for-9 in the air for 184 yards and two TDs — the longest a 75-yard play. Outside linebacker Zachary Seselja scooped up a third quarter fumble and ran 30 yards the other way only to be tackled on the one yard line.

The win ups them to 5-3 and secures them third in the eight-team Island Conference.

The top four teams advance to the first round of the AA football playoffs, setting the table for a huge first round playoff game against the John Barsby Bulldogs in Nanaimo next week

“It’s going to be a war,” said Wall, then made the point that getting the field goal monkey off their backs felt good.

“But that’s history now ... our goal from the beginning of the season has been to win Ballenas’ first ever JV playoff game.”

Having the chance to do it against Barsby, he said, “makes it all the sweeter.”

The ‘Dawgs beat the Whalers 28-12 in their only other meeting this year, but that was five weeks ago, and the lads from Parksville have won every game since, outscoring the opposition by an intimidating 157-24 margin.

“That loss to Barsby was definitely the turning point in our season,” said coach Wall, adding, “even though we lost, it was our best game to date and it showed us we could stand in there with them ... it’s a mental, thing, right, and we’re going to have to have our best game of the season to beat them.”

GAME ON

The Whalers and Bulldogs go head to head in Nanaimo next Wednesday or Thursday (TBA).