Return of Dumas has the Sun Devils back
The South Delta Sun Devils got their star player back this week and with him in the fold, handed the red-hot Notre Dame Jugglers their first loss since early September, 41-6.
Notre Dame came into the game sitting at 4-0 and at the top of the Western Conference, while South Delta was sitting at 3-1 in second place.
Last week, the Sun Devils eeked out a victory over Carson Graham behind the emergency Gr. 9 QB Raemon Dosanjgh. South Delta was forced to start their freshman pivot due to an injury to starter Damian Dumas.
The return of Dumas this week showed his impact towards this Sun Devils team. Dumas, who is one of the most electric players in the province, had South Delta looking more like the team that defeated Vancouver College three weeks ago rather than the team we witnessed last week.
Dumas may have received a warm welcome back from fellow teammates and fans, but not from the Jugglers’ defence. On the second offensive play from scrimmage, Dumas fluttered a ball to the flat that was picked off and taken back for a major by Notre Dame.
With the energy sucked out of their home building, the Sun Devils needed to respond. Offensive lineman Luke Dunn met that challenge head-on.
Dunn, who also happens to return Kick-Offs, took a return into a crowd of Jugglers. It appeared momentarily that Dunn had no room to work with, but somehow he found a lane and scampered up the left sideline all the way to the endzone to put his team ahead. From there South Delta never looked back.
Dumas did his thing the rest of the game, extending plays, throwing darts to his targets and creating explosive runs out of nothing on his way to a passing and a rushing major. Willem ter Keurs caught that pass from Dumas, as well as picking off Jugglers’ starting pivot Caleb Parrotta for a pick-six. Will Jollymore also added a rushing major before half.
South Delta’s special teams unit continued to make explosive plays as Quinn Sjoberg took a punt back 50 yards to the house. Kicker Jared Brown put multiple field goals through the uprights to add points on the scoreboard as well.
South Delta controlled play in all three facets of the game. Playing Smothering defence, ball control offence and scoring on special teams on their way to an impressive victory.
The Sun Devils’ lopsided win moves them to first in the conference with one more game to go as the Belmont Bulldogs visit next Saturday from Vancouver Island.
Harinen runs wild, helps Panthers get back to winning ways
The Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers found their way back in the win column this week as they pulled away from the Terry Fox Ravens in the fourth quarter for a 31-17 victory.
Jerin Harinen had his fingerprints all over this victory. Accounting for 24 of the 31 points scored by the Panthers, the physical running back couldn’t be stopped by the Ravens’ defence. He finished the night with an impressive 19 rushes for 194 yards and two majors on the ground.
“Jerin Harinen continues to play at a Provincial All-Star level; his numbers jump out at you on the stat sheet each week,” said Panthers’ head coach Michael Carter.
Harinen was responsible for the Panthers’ first 10 points of the evening, scoring the first major and adding the extra point before kicking a field goal later that same half.
After another massive play, this time a 55-yard rush by the lead back, Tweedsmuir quarterback Chase Thurston found Logan Wager in the endzone to put the Panthers up 17-14 at halftime.
The Ravens controlled the third quarter and had the game deadlocked at 17 entering the final frame. Don’t let the Ravens’ record fool you, they’ve lost two conference games by only one possession. Terry Fox plays hard until the final whistle and has given everyone in the AAA Central a run for their money.
With the score tied and the Ravens electing to go for it on a fourth down, the Panthers’ defence needed a big play. Finn Meberg answered that call with a momentum-shifting sack to give the ball back to Tweedsmuir deep in Ravens territory.
That sack and a fumble recovery minutes later by Meberg would allow Harinen to put up the final ten points of the contest. Meberg would finish his ridiculous fourth quarter with an interception to finish the day with 8 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 Fumble Recovery and an INT.
“I’m proud of our players for their resilience today. When faced with some adversity, we answered the bell. It wasn’t a perfect win, but in AAA Varsity football, you’ll take a win anyway it comes. There are always things to continue to work on, but I’m proud of the effort of our players today,” said Carter on his team’s victory.
Carter shouted out the efforts of multiple players whose efforts were critical to the team’s victory despite not showing up on the stat sheet.
“Hudson Brynjolfson stepped in today and started his first Varsity game as a Grade 9 and did a great job executing. Mathew Reid’s perimeter blocking is absolutely phenomenal for a high school receiver. He plays with full effort on each rep that shows on film,” he said.
“Jake Johnson is another guy who doesn’t show up on the stats sheet as much as he does on film. He does such a good job for us on the interior defensive line, eating blocks to free up his teammates.”
The Panthers will regroup after this emotional win and will begin preparations for their regular season finale and “Seniors’ Night” next Friday when they take on the Seaquam Seahawks.
Mouat overpowers Vancouver College in 31-7 victory
Courtesy: Mouat Athletics
The #1-ranked W.J. Mouat Hawks continued their dominant season with a convincing 31-7 victory over the Vancouver College Fighting Irish on Friday afternoon.
Mouat’s defence set the tone early, forcing a stop on VC’s opening drive before quarterback Elijah Black went to work. On the Hawks’ first possession, Black found Aarav Bhandari on a 13-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.
“Offensively, Elijah continues to stand out for us. He keeps stacking up impressive Performances,” said Hawks head coach Andrew Harder.
Black continued to show why he’s a frontrunner for AAA player of the year in this one, finishing 21/27 passing, for 352 yards, 3 TDs and 10 carries, 47 yards and a score on the ground.
The Hawks’ defence showed they too are ones to be reckoned with, striking again as Santiago Llarena came up with a timely interception, halting another promising VC drive. Llarena may fly under the radar to some, but not those who watch the Hawks regularly.
“Santiago Llarena was a monster on both sides of the ball. He does so many little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet, but they make a huge difference week in and week out,“ said Harder.
Black capitalized on that play by Llarena soon after, connecting with Max Pratt for the first of his two touchdowns on the day. Mouat entered halftime up 14-0 after missing a field goal attempt late in the second quarter.
In the third frame, Owen Turner extended the lead to 17-0 with a 30-yard field goal. Vancouver College finally responded in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass on fourth and 15, cutting the lead to 17-7.
Mouat immediately answered that score and squashed all the momentum the Irish had just built as Black found Pratt deep downfield for a 55-yard touchdown. The Hawks sealed the win with a late rushing touchdown to make it 31-7, putting an exclamation point on the performance and
handing VC’s first loss to the Hawks at the varsity level since 2011.
“I’m proud of our defensive effort today. Coach Mills had a great game plan, and our front seven did an excellent job slowing down a very strong VC run game. Our goal was to go 1-0 this week. Great team win by all our guys,” Harder said.
The Hawks remain unbeaten and will round out their regular season when they take on the Sardis Falcons at home next Friday.
Mouat stat leaders:
- Max Pratt: 9 catches, 158 yards, 2 TDs
- Santiago Llarena: 6 catches, 66 yards; 5 solo tackles; 1 interception
- Trey Harley: 2 catches, 100 yards; 1 interception
- Isaiah Black: 2 sacks, several key pressures
They don’t ask how, they ask how many; Crusaders win third straight
As the final days of October approach and the weather begins to take a turn for the worse, teams hoping to make a deep push into the playoffs need to be able to win ugly. The Holy Cross Crusaders avoided the downpour that was Friday night in the Lower Mainland by mere minutes, but won ugly nonetheless in a 7-0 defensive battle against the Mission Road Runners.
For the Crusaders, this gritty win meant more than your typical victory.
“The most important part of the day was that it was our seniors’ day, as it’s our last home game. It was so important for them to get that win on our home field, and we couldn’t be happier for them,” said Crusaders head coach Conrad Deugau.
Holy Cross started the season with four straight losses. A start like that can often derail a team’s season completely. In the case of the Crusaders’ 2025 campaign, they’ve grown and learned how to handle adversity when faced with it. A skill they needed to use once again on Friday afternoon.
“We fumbled our opening snap of the game, which was also on our own 40-yard line. We completely shut down the Mission Offence on that series. That was very likely the turning point of the game,” said Deugau.
An early miscue like the one just mentioned doesn’t seem like such a big deal when you’ve rebounded from a 0-4 start. The Crusaders reset after their early mistake and won the turnover battle the rest of the way with a fumble recovery by defensive end Carter Poirier, and interceptions by defensive backs Adrian Kwok and Josh Zulke.
Jacob Marinelli broke the scoring with a 50-yard Punt Return in the second quarter for the only score of the game. The Crusaders’ defence remained stout the rest of the way and when the game clock struck zero, Holy Cross had won their 3rd straight game.
From 0-4 to 3-4, the Crusaders will look to get back to .500 when they take on the Abbotsford Panthers on Halloween, in a massive game with crucial playoff seeding on the line.