Fighting Irish perfect for third straight season
The Vancouver College Fighting Irish have finished the regular season with a perfect record for the third time in as many years. Taking on their bitter rival, the Notre Dame Jugglers, the Irish took home the Archbishops trophy with a 34-0 win.
This rivalry goes back 67 years and has an abundance of history, which is something Irish Head Coach Bryan Chiu knows very well.
“For me, there’s a lot of history involved. I played in the same game a couple times when I played here at Vancouver College,” said Chiu.
On top of their perfect season against their bitter rival, the Irish were also hosting their Seniors Day. This will be a game that the Irish seniors can look back on fondly.
The Irish opened the scoring on a Nicky Noguera touchdown run. After the Irish’s dominant defense got another stop, the Irish marched downfield again, where Jaxson Farac capped off the drive with a rushing major of his own.
In the second quarter, the Jugglers tightened up on defense and managed to keep the Irish’s offense at bay until VC put together another drive where Declan Damgaard found the endzone to put the Irish up three scores.
In the second half, the Irish added scores by Lucas Gonzales on a 20 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Parker Orr and Noah Lowden with a 60-yard punt return major. The Irish bled the clock in the fourth quarter and celebrated their 34-0 victory over their rivals postgame.
Chiu is happy his upperclassmen will have a Seniors Day to remember.
“Very pleased with our team’s performance as a whole. We did some great things in all three phases of the game. Happy to send our seniors home with a win for their last regular season game on O’Hagan Field,” said Chiu.
With today’s victory, the Irish have now won this historic rivalry game
six years in a row. By securing first place in their conference, the Irish will receive a bye week to start the playoffs before hosting the winner or Centennial and Kelowna the following week.
Grizzlies end regular season on a high note with victory
Make it three wins in a row for the G.W. Graham Grizzlies. The Grizzlies capped off their regular season with a 30-10 victory over the Langley Secondary Thunderbirds.
The Grizzlies started slow and found themselves down 3-0 in the first quarter. With Graham’s offense struggling to move the ball, they called on their star running back.
Ridley Mastin answered that call, putting up 146 rushing yards and punching it in for the first of his four scores on the day to give Graham a 6-3 lead.
The Thunderbirds were not about to go away without a fight on their senior’s night. After two penalties and a fake punt kept a drive alive, the Thunderbirds capped off their long drive and took a 10-6 lead.
Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, Graham’s offense had found its rhythm and was back firing on all cylinders. The Grizzlies offense would score twice more before the half and would take a 22-10 lead into the break.
Yet another touchdown by Mastin in the third quarter put away the Thunderbirds for good. Mastin broke tackle after tackle and exploded out of a pile of Thunderbirds defenders on an electrifying run.
Graham’s defense held the Thunderbirds off the scoreboard for the entire second half. It was led by strong performances from defensive lineman Zach Corrigan, who had four tackles and two sacks, middle linebacker Khayman Alex, with six tackles and two sacks as well as safety Brady Sturrus, who had a late interception to seal the game for good.
The Grizzlies finish conference play with a 5-1 record. With three straight wins, momentum is building for Graham at the perfect time, right before the start of the postseason.
Hyacks win battle of 10th Avenue
The New Westminster Hyacks and St. Thomas More Knights faced off in the battle of 10th Avenue Friday night. The Hyacks won this battle against their rivals, whose school is a mere five-minute drive from their own 42-7.
The Knights got off to a great start, chewing up the entire first quarter on their first drive and capping it off with a seven-yard pass from Patricio Cuesta Leon to Milano Peloso.
From that point on, it was the Tyson Godspower show. The Hyacks running back ran for over 200 yards and four touchdowns in awful weather conditions, helping his team score 42 unanswered points.
With the Hyacks trailing early Benny Hageleit and Godspower made crucial plays when their team needed them most. Hyacks offensive coordinator Darnell Sikorski spoke highly of his two stars postgame.
“STM is well coached but we had answers to what they tried to accomplish defensively to stop our offense. Tyson Godspower had a huge game on the ground, and while Benny only had a handful of touches due to the weather, he blocked his butt off and had a great game defensively. He’s one of the top players in the province,” said Sikorski after the game.
Hyacks Head Coach Andrew McKechnie was also very impressed with Hageleit’s play.
Benny made two very important catches in the 1st half when we finally did have the football, but his play on the defensive side was extremely impressive” said Mckechnie.
Hageliet had a forced fumble and fumble recovery where he ripped the ball out of a Knights runner’s hands midplay and also made some great tackles from his safety spot.
Hyacks defensive coordinator Chad Oatway says Benny isn’t the only star excelling on his defense.
“Defensively the kids executed the plan well after that first drive and did a great job being disciplined. Alex Dall played great on the Defensive Line. And I can’t say enough about Julian MacFadden,” said Oatway.
“He is a sideline-to-sideline linebacker and made plays everywhere. It’s the first season at inside backer for that kid, and he’s done so well. A university coach is going to be very happy with him because he’s got so much upside.”
McKechnie is excited for his team to show what it’s got come playoff time.
“We are still quite banged up and not quite over our injury hump. We had a lot of guys out tonight again,” said McKechnie.
“In a lot of ways, that’s why this game was so impressive. If we can get healthy come playoff time and limit mistakes… this team can really do some damage.”
Thunder win in overtime
In an interior rivalry game with massive playoff seeding implications, the Rutland Thunder were able to pull off a 16-13 overtime victory over the Kelowna Owls.
This is one of the biggest rivalry matchups in the interior. It’s always a battle from the get-go when these two teams face off, and tonight was no different.
After the Owls opened up the scoring, both defenses stepped up big and had their opposition’s offenses looking for answers. The pouring rain aided both team’s defensive units in keeping each other’s passing games to a minimum.
Finally, Rutland’s offense woke up after multiple possessions, and Luka Frattini took a handoff for a 23-yard score to tie the game at seven. Right before halftime, Rutland’s Reid Thompson put the ball through the uprights for a field goal and had the Thunder leading 10-7 at halftime.
After a third-quarter field goal by the Owls tied the game, both teams struggled to finish drives for the rest of regulation. Both teams had plenty of chances to take the lead, but neither team’s defenses nor the elements had any of it. After four quarters solved nothing, the game headed to overtime.
After the Owls settled for a field goal on the first possession of overtime, the Thunder got the ball with a chance to win it.
On third and goal, with the game hanging in the balance, thunder quarterback Carter Cook kept the ball and used his legs to fight through multiple tackles and fought his way across the goalline to win the game for Rutland.
With the victory, the Thunder now finish with a 4-2 record in conference play.
South Delta wins again, finishes regular season 9-1
The South Delta Sun Devils continued their stellar play in a 32-2 victory over the Handsworth Royals.
Already having clinched second in their conference, this contest didn’t have any impact on the Sun Devils playoff seeding. Despite that, this game had a massive impact on the Sun Devils’s safety, Hudson Wight.
Wight made his return to the lineup after recovering from a bad break in his leg in a freak basketball accident. A team captain and emotional leader, the Sun Devils were elated to see him get back on the field and lead the team in tackles.
The Sundevils came out with great energy and were able to take control early with a quick stop on defense before Damian Dumas took one of his carries for a 40-yard touchdown. Dumas would have his lightest workload of the season, ending the day with only five carries for 70 yards and two scores.
The Sun Devils extended their lead to 16-0 after a Dominic Dumas pass to Quinn Sjoberg found the endzone from 30 yards out. Damian’s final score of the day started off the second quarter.
Dominic, not wanting to be outdone by his little brother, scrambled for a 75-yard touchdown to end the half, and with the score 29-0 Sun Devils at the half, the rout was on.
Sun Devils Head Coach Ray Moon was glad most of his players were able to get in the game down the stretch.
“It was a great team effort today, it was clear from the onset that we were a stronger team and it enabled us to get our less experienced guys in for some meaningful reps,” said Moon
“It was great to see the excitement our team had for their teammates having success on the field. The guys playing today have been really working hard to make our scout team as close to the opposition as possible, so it was nice to get them as much playing time as they did.”
The Sundevils now wait for the seeding committee to meet after the last games tomorrow to decide what their path will look like. Finishing the season with a 9-1 record and ranked as the #2 team in the province for the last 3 weeks, they hope to be playing right until the end of November.
Pipers win on last second two point conversion
Trick or treat? A day after Halloween, the Argyle Pipers chose to trick the John Barsby Bulldogs on a crucial play late in the game that changed the game’s tide and led the Pipers to a 15-14 victory.
The Bulldogs had all the momentum early. Using their ground-and-pound approach early and often, Barsby led 14-7 at the half after beaking two long runs for scores.
In the second half, the Piper’s defense stepped up and found an answer to the Bulldog’s running game. Beating the bulldogs at their own game, the Pipers were more physical than the Bulldogs all second half. Their defense held Barsby off the board and gave the ball back to their offense for a chance to tie the game with under five minutes remaining.
With only three minutes left, the Pipers were faced with a dilemma. On a fourth down in their own territory, should they punt the ball back to the Bulldogs and rely on their defense to come up with another stop? or should their offense stay on the field and try to move the chains?
The Pipers appeared to take the conservative approach and lined up to punt. Little known to the Bulldogs, the Pipers had a trick up their sleeve. Argyle faked their punt and picked up a first down to keep their drive and the game alive.
Argyle’s offense used that massive shift in momentum to their advantage. Pipers quarterback Lucas Yaskowich drove his team downfield on a couple of chunk plays before the Pipers found the endzone and cut the lead to just one.
Rather than kicking the extra point and tying the game, the Pipers elected to go for two and the win. Yaskowich dropped back to pass and found slot receiver Noah Noordmans in the endzone to complete the two-point conversion and put the Pipers up 15-14 with just forty seconds to go.
With under a minute to go, the Bulldogs had one more chance to win the game. The Pipers denied that opportunity and sealed the win with a Connor Schick interception. The Pipers took a knee, and the game was all but over 15-14 in the Piper’s favor.
Pipers Coach Mac Ward was impressed with both teams’ physicality post-game.
It was another hard-hitting and physical game, as it always is when Argyle and Barsby play,” said Ward. “We’re proud of the way our team played for all 60 minutes.”
Argyle and Barsby finish the regular season with identical 4-2 records.
The Eagles live to fight another day
In a do-or-die game, the Carson Graham Eagles prevailed 28-8 over the Belmont Bulldogs and punched their ticket to the BC Highschool Football Playoffs.
Led by Grade 10 quarterback Josh Barber, the Eagles scored on their first two offensive series. The underclassman was unphased by the bright lights and looked the part playing up for the Eagles varsity team. The Eagles air raid attack runs through the quarterback position, making Barber’s performance even more impressive.
The Eagles defense continued their solid play as well. Jack Shih picked off a ball intended for a Bulldogs receiver early in the game and set up the Eagles inside the Bulldogs’ yard line.
Three plays later, Barber hit Jaden Diamond on an 8-yard pass for a score. Barber then hit Célyan Vermeulin on an endzone fade for the two-point convert.
The Eagle’s defense continued to fly around, making life miserable for Belmont’s Gun-T attack. Defensive coordinator Pooya Dourandish had another masterful plan, and his unit held the Bulldogs to -12 yards on their first couple of drives.
Feeding of his defense’s incredible play, Barber led the Eagles offense on a well-balanced 8-play 70-yard drive that was capped off with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Fin Clark.
Hold on, folks. The grade ten isn’t perfect after all. Barber threw an interception on the Eagle’s next drive, and the Bulldogs took over deep in their own territory. Barber had nothing to fear, though, as a couple of plays later, Eagles Backer Connor Henry shot through the line of scrimmage and tackled a Bulldogs running back in the backfield for safety.
The Eagles took a 16-0 lead into the half and had all the momentum. In the second half, the Eagles picked off where they left off and scored twice in the third quarter to put the game away for good.
Eagles Head Coach Brian Brady kept it straight to the point post-game.
‘We look forward to the playoffs,” he said.
The Eagles will indeed look forward to the playoffs, as the team is getting hot at just the right time. Their defense has elevated their play, and with Barber coming into the fold at quarterback and heating up, the Eagles might surprise some teams in the upcoming weeks.