Rams to butt heads with Hamilton
Langley team hoping to tame Hurricanes in bid for spot in junior grid final
The B.C. Lions aren’t the only Lower Mainland football team looking to break some Hamilton hearts.
While the Lions will face the Tiger-Cats on Remembrance Day in Hamilton to open the CFL playoffs, the Langley Rams host the Hamilton Hurricanes this Saturday (4 p.m.) at McLeod Athletic Park in a Canadian junior football semifinal.
The winner visits the juggernaut Saskatoon Hilltops on Nov. 17 in the Canadian Bowl, the national championship for the 22-and-under grid loop.
Langley (9-3) has won eight consecutive games when you include their 39-7 romp over the Okanagan Sun in the B.C. Football Conference championship tilt last Saturday in Kelowna. Langley forced eight turnovers, highlighted by three interceptions by defensive back Nathan Murray.
Hamilton (10-0) seems to bring a high-powered offence to the table, led by quarterback Jake Marquette. He connected for 22 touchdown passes — and only one interception — in seven regular-season matchups this year, while completing 64 per cent (83-of-130) of his passes for 1,437 yards.
Marquette, 22 and listed at 6-1 and 170 pounds, was named Ontario’s outstanding offensive player during the conference’s year-end awards.
Hamilton beat the Windsor AKO Fratmen 28-23 last week in the Ontario final.
“They have a very athletic quarterback,” Langley coach Howie Zaron wrote in an email interview. “Containing their quarterback will be a challenge.”
Zaron said his team’s effort against Okanagan taught him that “when we are focused, we are a pretty tough team to beat,” and he lauded his defence for its “speed and physicality.” Langley has been led offensively in the playoffs by receiver Jevon Cotty, who recorded 11 catches for 356 yards and four touchdowns in the two playoff victories. The 22-year-old checks in at 6-5 and 230 pounds.
The Rams are aiming for their first Canadian Bowl since losing 39-14 in the 2014 national final to the Hilltops.
Zaron maintains players won’t be future surfing and plotting for the Hilltops.
“We stress that if we look too far ahead we won’t be going,” he stated. “For the past eight weeks we have focused on the task at hand. We play in the now.”
The Rams were No. 6 in the national rankings, while the Hurricanes ranked No. 2. The Hilltops (10-0) held down the No. 1 spot all season.
Saskatoon is the benchmark club in Canadian junior football. They’re the four-time reigning Canadian Bowl champions and have won the title seven of the last eight years.
A B.C. team has not won the Canadian Bowl since 2009, when the Vancouver Island Raiders whipped the Edmonton Wildcats 51-14 in the title matchup in Nanaimo. That was the Raiders’ second straight national title and third in four years.