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Football's Victoria Spartans ready for Chilliwack Giants

Spartans, Giants meet for Vancouver Mainland Football League matchup in Langford, 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Westhills Stadium
Spartans No. 9
Victoria Spartans quarterback Brett Johnson is tackled during the 2011 midget football season. Johnson is out with a broken leg for six to eight weeks but should return for the final two regular season games of the season.

With three wins in their first four games the midget Victoria Spartans are off to great start to the Vancouver Mainland Football League season.

The Spartans, aged 16 to 18, will hit the halfway mark of the season on Sunday when they host the Chilliwack Giants (2-2) at Westhills Stadium.

Kickoff is 1 p.m.

“It’s been two years since we won the provincials and we’re off to a good start, but it’s a very competitive league this year,” assistant coach Paul Mulholland said.

Head coach Dave Shortt and Mulholland have led the team for six years now. This year’s squad has a mix of players, with a dozen high school grads, half from the Mount Douglas Rams and half from the Belmont Bulldogs, and a group of grads from the Spartans’ 2011 provincial championship bantam team.

Quarterback Brett Johnson is out, however, with a broken leg. Last year Johnson stepped in as QB after a couple of games and helped the Spartans to a second-round exit from the playoffs. Instead, the Spartans are relying on Lowell MacDonald, a defensive lineman who hasn’t played quarterback since bantam.

“Lowell is doing well, he’s come through with some good passing, he’s a smart QB and knows the game,” Mulholland said.

The Victoria Spartans 12-man bantam team is away this weekend against the Cowichan Bulldogs on Sunday.