A devil of a championship
Sun Devils scorch St. Douglas Rams in team’s first year back in Triple A
The little team that could slew the dragon Saturday night at BC Place.
Unranked when the B. C. high school football season began after being moved to Triple A from Double A for 2014, the South Delta Sun Devils captured the title in the province’s top tier with a stunning 55- 30 win over the undefeated and three- time reigning champion Mt. Douglas Rams.
The win avenged a 44- 7 loss to the Rams in Victoria on Oct. 24 — South Delta’s only blemish in an 11- 1 season — and a 55- 20 exhibition loss at home to Mt. Douglas last season.
“Coming into this season, we couldn’t have expected anything like this,” said Jack McDonald, the Grade 12 receiver/ linebacker who was named the game’s MVP. “We weren’t sure how it was going to turn out. This is the best possible outcome, I can’t believe it.”
McDonald said the Sun Devils were a little cocky when they went to Victoria in October to face their West Conference foes and were knocked down a peg.
“Ever since that game, we knew we had to change something. We thought we were the best and it set in that we needed to try harder, we needed to have better practices. Everyone was hitting the gym more often and we were playing our hearts out every single play at practice and in the games.”
The Sun Devils knew they hadn’t played well in Victoria, but there were extenuating circumstances. They had just a 20- minute warm- up arriving late because of a ferry delay. And rain and a messy field slowed down their vaunted passing attack.
That wasn’t an issue inside BC Place as quarterback Lucas Kirk was outstanding, throwing for 342 yards and six touchdowns. He was poised in the pocket and brilliant when chased from it, calm and accurate with his throws as if he was channelling Seattle Seahawks’ star Russell Wilson.
“Electrifying,” said McDonald, who caught a 37- yard score from Kirk.
Kirk got the Sun Devils started early after the South Delta defence stopped Mt. Douglas at midfield on a fourth- and- four on the Rams’ opening possession.
On second- down, he hit receiver Thomas Franklin on a fly pattern down the left sideline for a 47- yard touchdown and the rout was effectively on.
The Sun Devils, who knocked off the No.- 1 ranked Terry Fox Ravens 16- 13 in a semifinal in the snow at UBC a week ago, stopped Mt. Douglas twice more on downs in the first half and also turned a McDonald fumble recovery into a touchdown to build a 33- 10 halftime lead.
Kirk, who also ran the ball effectively, threw touchdown passes of 36 and eight yards to Bryce Connors, 24 yards to Gordon Cooper and 22 yards to running back Grant McDonald, who is just in Grade 10. Connors also returned a kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown and McDonald scored on a two- yard run.
“It’s unspeakable what he can do,” Connors said of Kirk. “He’s made of many talents. You can change your route and he’ll find you. He’s a team leader ... just an awesome person all around.”
The six- foot, 175- pound Kirk praised his offensive line for the protection and noted that his receivers were doing a terrific job of finding open holes in the Mt. Douglas secondary.
“It was on today,” he said. “All the boys were amazing. I’ve never felt anything like this before. It’s awesome.”
South Delta head coach Ray Moon said the four first- half Mt. Douglas turnovers, which led to 21 Sun Devils’ points, were crucial.
“It was a swing of emotion and momentum. Our guys get confident and all of a sudden it starts to snowball.”
The Sun Devils last played in a Triple A final in 1986 when they lost 38- 6 to Kamloops. They also lost Double A championship games to Port Moody in 1991 and to Handsworth in 2007.
They finally won Double A titles in 2008 and 2012 before being bumped up to Triple A this season when the threshold number of males in Grades 11- 12 was dropped to 275 from 300.
“This was a huge statement for us,” said Kirk of winning the title in the school’s first year back in Triple A. “Before the year started, I felt like no one really felt like we could do much in this league. Every game was a statement game and now we’ve done it.”