Teams close in on Subway Bowl berths
Jugglers, Hyacks, Ravens and Devils remain in hunt for triple-A football title
The Notre Dame Jugglers and New Westminster Hyacks will have to go through each other as both schools continue their quest to quench long-standing high school football championship droughts.
The triple-A Western Conference powerhouses each rallied from Saturday deficits at B.C. Place Stadium to post Subway Bowl quarter-final victories, setting the stage for a semifinal showdown Saturday under the dome.
The No. 4-ranked Hyacks, who have yet to play in a B.C. senior varsity final before or since their rebirth in 2003, rallied from a 29-14 third-quarter deficit to sink the Abbotsford Panthers 44-35.
The No. 2-ranked Jugglers, 14-time provincial champions who have not played in the final since winning in 1993, got spectacular play from senior quarterback Steven Moretto to defeat their archrivals, the Vancouver College Fighting Irish, 27-10.
The Notre Dame-New Westminster winner will face the Terry Fox Ravens-South Delta Sun Devils winner in the Subway Bowl final on Dec. 3.
PoCo’s No. 1-ranked Ravens beat Victoria’s defending B.C. champion Mt. Douglas Rams 34-25, while No. 3 South Delta blitzed Coquitlam’s Centennial Centaurs 48-11.
The Hyacks surrendered big plays early to Abbotsford, but once they settled into their groove on offence, the Hyacks proved to be a punishing force along the ground.
“We needed to get out of our own way on offence and put it in the hands of our offensive line,” said Hyacks’ head coach Farhan Lalji, as running backs Trew Dancey and Lucas Sabau combined to rush for 291 yards and five touchdowns. “Really, we needed to start playing our own style of football and simplify things. We needed to take the guesswork out.”
Dancey rushed for 148 yards and scored on runs of four, five and 52 yards, while Sabau rushed for 143 yards and touchdowns of 31 and five yards.
Hyacks’ QB Kinsale Philip wrapped up his team’s scoring by firing a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Prento Durigon with five minutes remaining.
Abbotsford quarterback John Madigan threw touchdown passes of 15 and 65 yards to receiver Tanner Marquardt. Panthers running back Samwel Uko rushed for two scores, including one from 55 yards, then made a lateral pass to teammate Maasin Thompson who took it 27 yards for a major.
Against the Irish, Notre Dame’s Moretto rushed for a one-yard touchdown and later added another from 55 yards as the Jugglers toppled their crosstown foes for a second straight time, this time coming after 14 days of practice and rest.
“To play back-to-back against the same opponent, especially when you’ve got a bye week in there, that’s hard,” said Notre Dame head coach Richard Scott whose team beat the Irish 21-7 in its regular-season finale on Nov. 4, then remained idle last week as the Western Conference champions. “You don’t know whether you’re going to change stuff, and you know your opponent is going to adjust to things.”
Matthew Manetta helped the Jugglers keep their lead comfortable throughout the second half by booting field goals of 32 and 22 yards.
Joseph Santalucia had opened the scoring for Notre Dame with a five-yard run.