Ravens vs. Hyacks: Get ready for Round 2
Terry Fox and New Westminster, last season’s finalists, to clash in triple-A football semifinal
The Terry Fox Ravens are getting another crack at the New Westminster Hyacks at B.C. Place.
The Ravens and Hyacks face off next Saturday in the triple-A football semifinals at the downtown dome in a rematch of last year’s thrilling title game that saw New Westminster score a controversial last-second touchdown to win, 15-14.
New Westminster, which was an honourable mention in the final provincial rankings, upset the No. 1 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers 34-16 in Saturday’s quarter-finals at B.C. Place behind five touchdowns and 299 rushing yards from Broxx Comia.
Fourth-ranked Terry Fox got two rushing touchdowns apiece from Cade Cote and Jaden Severy and defeated the honourable-mention Notre Dame Jugglers 35-21 Saturday to advance.
Next week’s other semifinal features the No. 2 Vancouver College Fighting Irish, who defeated the No. 5 South Delta Sun Devils 48-12 Saturday, meeting the honourable-mention Mount Douglas Rams, who ousted the No. 3 St. Thomas More Knights 43-21 Friday.
New Westminster coach Farhan Lalji said he’s expecting yet another tight game with the Ravens.
“They match up very well with us both in style and personnel,” Lalji said. “Coach (Tom) Kudaba has a good understanding of what we do offensively and their offence has a lot of weapons. We’ll need to continue to get better if we hope to win.”
New Westminster is 7-4 on the campaign, but battled injuries all year with Comia and quarterback/linebacker Kinsale Philip among those either missing action outright or having their playing time curtailed due to ailments. They were both stellar against Lord Tweedsmuir.
The Panthers came into Saturday at 8-1 with their lone loss recorded in an exhibition tilt against a Lynden, Wash., opponent. The consensus among the coaches, though, before the quarter-finals was that there wasn’t much to choose from between the final eight teams.
“I really believe that there’s no heavy favourite. These eight teams, this is a tournament. It’s not like a playoff. It could go any way,” Lalji said.
Lord Tweedsmuir coach Kurt Thornton added: “I didn’t like to go down like that. I thought it would be a close game. For it to not even be close was not what I thought was going to happen.”
Lord Tweedsmuir had been the No. 1 team since the pre-season and edged Terry Fox by a single point in voting conducted by league coaches for that initial poll, according to Howard Tsumura’s varsityletters.ca. The Hyacks began the year at No. 3.
The Fighting Irish were eighth in votes for that kickoff ranking. They moved to 10-1 overall with their win over South Delta. Their lone loss was in exhibition to Lynden as well.
They were down 12-0 against the Sun Devils, but they took a 20-12 lead in the second quarter, spurred on by a Matt Hoag interception returned 41 yards for a score and a 16-yard fumble return for a major by Chris Kongbo on back-to-back South Delta possessions.
“Getting down under those circumstances was very difficult and gut wrenching, but it never felt overwhelming,” said Vancouver College coach Todd Bernett. “Our faith in one another to come back from that adversity is what I liked most.
“Those are huge plays. Not just getting the ball back, but turning them into points immediately. That gave us a great surge. In a game of emotion like this with a conference rival, getting a play like that is double delicious. You get the turnover and you get a score. It’s two scoops.”
South Delta quarterback Ben McDonald suffered a suspected broken thumb on his throwing hand before the interception. He gamely tried continue at both quarterback and receiver afterward.
“I give the kid a ton of credit for trying to gut it out,” said Bernett. “We didn’t know exactly what it was. We knew he was injured.”