Rams ready for high-flying Ravens
They have won four of the last five Subway Bowl B.C. senior boys’ triple-A football championships, but make no mistake, the Mount Douglas Rams are underdogs when they enter quarterfinal play today at B.C. Place.
The 3-3 Rams will face the 7-0 Terry Fox Ravens at 3 p.m. in the dome.
Terry Fox has scored 349 points and surrendered just 60 this season as the Ravens occupy the No. 1 ranking in the province. They feature running back Jeremie Kankolongo, who had 94 carries for 1,451 yards this season, averaging 207.29 yards a game and a whopping 15.44 yards a carry. Kankolongo is also a top linebacker with 54 tackles, which ranked third in the province.
“Fox looks solid from top to bottom and, obviously, Jeremie is a phenomenal football player,” said Rams head coach Mark Townsend.
“Absolutely, we are the underdog. Fox has been on a roll. You look at some of the scores they’ve put up, they average about 50 points a game and they maybe give up one touchdown. They are a very well-coached team, with a lot of quality players, led by Kankolongo.”
But the Rams are a different football team with quarterback Gideone Kremler in the lineup and the Grade 10 pivot, who led Mount Doug to last year’s title, is back from his knee injury.
Kremler returned last week in a brief appearance in a 52-7 win over W.J. Mouat in the first round of the playoffs. He also played Wednesday in the Junior Varsity team’s 40-15 victory over St. Thomas More.
“It is a different football team with him,” said Townsend. “I think it’s a confidence thing and I think he is a huge impact in a positive way for our team. In his limited reps last week, he was certainly a leader, but it also allowed other guys to step up and really perform well on the field.
“Last week, against W.J. Mouat, I think it was probably our best game of the year. It was a complete game in all facets,” Townsend said.
Josh Lucas led a lethal ground attack in that game with 223 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder. Ben Pierik added 163 yards along the ground and two TDs.
Defensively, Soren Hallschmid had eight tackles, while Quinn Jenish and Isaiah Cardilicchia each had seven. Hallschmid led the Rams all season with 48 tackles and four sacks.
Offensively, Pierik had 103 carries on the season for 586 yards or 97.67 a game. Lucas was the top receiver in B.C. with 39 catches for 566 yards or 94.33 yards a game. Kremler was 42 of 82 in passing for 575 yards and four TDs.
“It’s no fun to watch,” said Kremler, who hurt his knee in a Junior Varsity game versus New Westminster, but is excited about the opportunity against Terry Fox. “They’re undefeated. I think we do have a lot of the tools to be successful. Whoever plays the better football will come out with the win.”
Scoring early would be a tremendous benefit for the Rams.
“In a perfect world, yeah, that would be great,” said Townsend. “Our motto all year has been to play our best early in the game and early in the second half as well. The plan would be to try and get a lead early, plant that seed of doubt, similar to last year when we beat Terry Fox in the semi-finals.”