Offensive stars shine on big stage
FOOTBALL: Terry Fox’s Kankolongo, Notre Dame’s Moretto piled up accolades in 2016
Multiply their impact on a roster from late August to the first week of December, and the resulting answer is empowerment.
At the start of a 2016 B.C. high school football campaign, Terry Fox Ravens’ running back Jeremie Kankolongo and Notre Dame Jugglers quarterback Steven Moretto were considered two of the most dynamic players in the province.
We’ve seen that momentum build through the course of a regular season in which each led their school to a conference championship.
And we’ve especially seen it the past two weekends, in the quarter-final and semifinal rounds of the playoffs, where each has made a consistent habit of producing critical plays at critical junctures.
That impact was acknowledged Tuesday evening at the provincial all-star award banquet when Kankolongo was named triple-A Player of the Year and Moretto the tier’s offensive MVP.
Hopefully they’ve still got some heroics left in the tank for Saturday (7 p.m., Sportscanadatv.com) when No. 1-ranked Terry Fox and No. 2 Notre Dame meet for the first time this season in a battle for the Subway Bowl title at B.C. Place Stadium.
What we do know for sure is that their impact can’t be measured simply by their stats, a combined 40 touchdowns and almost 4,000 all-purpose yards in the regular season, which the pair split right down the middle.
So impactful have they been that this week, their respective head coaches couldn’t help but speak to their intangible qualities of empowerment.
“They are the kinds of players who motivate others to commit fully,” says Ravens head coach Martin McDonnell, who watched an injured and flu-ridden Kankolongo rush for two scores last Saturday in the semifinal, and most significantly, the winning two-point convert, which lifted Terry Fox past No. 3 South Delta 22-21.
“I try to tell everyone that with a little bit more effort and effectiveness, if you just keep getting one per cent better every day, that is something that in the end, really adds up to success.”
Moretto’s 60-yard rushing touchdown Saturday, one of three he scored in a 20-14 semifinal win over No. 4 New Westminster, instantly found its place among the greatest majors in Jugglers history.
And throughout a season in which an underdog team kept passing test after test, the pivot’s mere presence has imbued the East Vancouver team, which hasn’t played in the final in 23 years, with the sense of ultimate possibility.
“Those two guys have absolutely done that this season,” says Notre Dame head coach Richard Scott. “Take a look at South Delta when (running back/linebacker) Grant McDonald got healthy. They became a completely different team from early on when he was hurt. Kank is (Terry Fox’s) tank, and you see the value of his presence on the other players when they are on the field. Steve is a great player with the ball, but I have loved the fact that he also demands more of his teammates when he is not on the field.”
For the Jugglers, the season has been about a complete rebirth of its program, from the Grade 8 team, which also plays for a B.C. title Saturday, to the senior varsity, which will try to end a near quarter-century drought.
“What seems to be a fact, is that if you are going to build a successful program then everyone has to be on the same page at all levels,” says Scott. “Does that always turn into championships? No. But it is the best way to build all three teams towards a common goal.”
McDonnell says that at Terry Fox, its student-athletes do their best to live up to the ideals of their namesake, and adds that this week he will remind his players of the important words of former Ravens junior varsity head coach Carey Lapa, who died in 2011.
“I try to speak from the heart all the time,” McDonnell says, “and remind our team of the great Canadian hero their school is named for. The theme this week will be preparation and trust. As coach Lapa was fond of saying, ‘Eleven brothers are hard to beat.’”
“They are the kinds of players who motivate others to commit fully.” — Martin McDonnell