Welcome to The Province’s B.C. high school football report, today blogging live from B.C. Place Stadium.
We will have full game reports from each of today’s six games, so please check back on this posting throughout the day.
As well, here’s your link to Friday’s games!
TRIPLE A
NO. 1 TERRY FOX 33 va. SOUTH DELTA 14
The undefeated season continues for PoCo’s Terry Fox Ravens.
B.C.’s No 1-ranked Triple A team leaned on explosive running back Jeremie Kankolongo for his big-play ability, and for the most part, stopped the Sun Devils from being able to run the kinds of track meets that make them their most dangerous.
Kankolongo rushed for scores of 11 and five yards and caught a 26-yard scoring strike from quarterback Jake Laberge as part of the victory.
Ravens’ quarterback Jake Laberge, who threw the touchdown pass to Kankolongo, also threw a 10-yard strike to Isaac Evans in the third quarter which put Terry Fox on top 21-6. Taylor Poitras rushed for a one-yard major to account for another Ravens touchdown.
“We have yet to put together a full game in all three phases,” said Fox head coach Martin McDonnell, whose team led 14-6 at the half. “We’re still waiting. We thought it would be tonight. We played well but we can play better.”
The Sun Devils did their damage on two big plays.
Billy Matwichyna scored on a 53-yard scamper in the first half while Michael Calvert went 63 yards in the second, when he turned took the fumbled snap of a punt 63 yards to the end zone.
“One bad play and they can score and we saw that tonight from South Delta,” said McDonnell, eluding to the fact that next week’s opponent is even more camp able of doing damage via the big play. “Mt. Doug is the same thing, a big-play offenc, with thier guys like (Gavin) Cobb, you can’t fall asleep. You can’t fall asleep, and the two scores South Delta scored on us tonight were the ones that came when we feel asleep.”
No. 2 VANCOUVER COLLGE 27 vs. NOTRE DAME 0
VANCOUVER — The No. 2-ranked Vancouver College Fighting Irish are playing a brand of football worthy of Subway Bowl 2015 semi-finalists.
On Saturday, in the quarterfinal round at B.C. Place Stadium, the Irish moved to within a win of playing for all the spoils and they did it with a convincing 27-0 win over their crosstown arch rivals, the Notre Dame Jugglers. It was the 71st all-time meeting between the two schools with the Irish leading 39-31-1.
“I thought our execution was very clean today,” said Vancouver College head coach Todd Bernett, whose team was set to play the winner of Saturday’s late quarterfinal clash between No. 4 New Westminster and No. 5 St. Thomas More, in next week’s semifinal round. “I thought we showed a variety of looks and defensively, I thought we had a different speed today.”
Leading that defence was Bobby Singh, who finished the game with three interceptions, and Chris Ellis who finished with seven interceptions.
Vancouver College struck with three first-quarter touchdowns on Saturday.
Running back Michael Le opened the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run, and although the point-after attempt clanked off the upright, it was a missed point that would not come back to haunt them on this night.
Quarterback Jacob Samuels later hooked up with receiver Rysen John on a 15-yard touchdown strike for a 13-0 lead.
And then before the half, VC’s defensive lineman Jagroop Sandhu was able to both tip a Notre Dame pass and come down with an interception, returning it 20 yards for a touchdown and a 20-0 halftime lead.
To that point, with 1:57 left in the opening quarter, Notre Dame had executed just five snaps on offence and had already found itself down by three scores.
The lone points of the second half came in the third quarter when Javier Sanchez Mejorada was able to find the end zone from seven yards out.
“Of course it’s an emotional game but there is also a familiarity and they do a good job of scheming against us,” said Bernett, whose tam had edged Notre Dame 17-14 in its annual, regular season-ending Archbishops Trophy game two weeks ago. “It’s always tough. That’s a good team. These last two games have been two of our grittiest, toughest wins this season.”
DOUBLE A
No. 3 ABBOTSFORD 50 at No. 2 JOHN BARSBY 36
NANAIMO — Rob Stevenson paid Chase Claypool the ultimate compliment Saturday.
“For all hype you hear about Chase Claypool, athletically he did it on both sides of the ball and he really hurt us,” the head coach of the two-time defending B.C. champions John Barsby Bulldogs said after the Notre Dame recruit caught four touchdown passes and rushed for two more in No. 3 Abbotsford’s 50-36 quarterfinal win.
“But more impressive was the toughness and leadership he showed with his team-mates,” continued Stevenson. “He directed traffic and led by example. He’s the best athlete we’ve play vs in 20 years of our program.”
No matter how much hype he gets, all he does is deliver.
On Saturday, that meant four receiving touchdowns and another two rushing, as well as an interception on defence as the Panthers moved into a showdown with the No. 4-ranked Langley Saints in the provincial semi-finals this Saturday.
John Barsby had tied the game at 29 towards the end of the third quarter, but Claypool sealed the win by first catching a TD passing and the rushing for another, the latter coming with two minutes remaining.
John Madigan continued his productive season from the pivot position, throwing all four of Claypool’s TD catches.
“This was a huge win for the program,” said Abbotsford head coach Jay Fujimura. “Barsby is a very tough, diciplined, well-coached team. We new it was going to a war going into the game and I’m very proud of our team for how they battled back and finished the game.”
Barsby was led by the two rushing majors of Justis Mackay-Topley, who carried 28 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Cooley also rushed for two scores, part of an 87-yard day along the ground.
Quarterback Nathanael Durkin scored on a 25-yard broken play and also had nine tackles on defence.
No. 1 G.W. GRAHAH 33 vs. HOLY CROSS 27
VANCOUVER — G.W Graham Grizzlies head coach Laurie Smith says he doesn’t mind getting over-ruled by his assistant coaches.
So when offensive coordinator Adam Smith and offensive line coach Luke Achison each implored Smith to gamble on fourth down from the one-yard line in overtime during in a Subway Bowl quarterfinal Saturday against Surrey’s Holy Cross Crusaders, the head coach relented.
“It’s like we teach our guys, just push the pile,” Laurie Smith said after quarterback Gabe Olivares’ keeper appeared to have stalled shy of the goal line but later began forward movement after a huge surge from the pack. “Coach Luke really had confidence in our O line.”
The result?
The No. 1 Grizzlies claimed a 33-27 victory over the Crusaders, moving on to the provincial semifinals this coming weekend against North Vancouver’s Carson Graham Eagles.
If Holy Cross was an underdog, it certainly didn’t behave like one.
On one of the most entertaining touchdown runs in Subway Bowl history, Crusaders’ quarterback Patrick Shoemay reversed his field five times in his own backfield before finally taking off on a 79-yard scoring run with 6:34 remaining that pulled the Crusaders into a 27-27 tie.
The point-after attempt, however, which would have give Holy Cross the lead, was blocked.
Holy Cross had opened the scoring on a 37-yard TD strike from Shoemay to Brandon Canuel, but the Grizzlies roared back behind the arm and the poise of Olivares. First, he threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Sprott, and then followed with scoring passes of eight and 25 yards to Emerson Smith which put G.W Graham ahead 21-7 early in the third quarter.
Shoemay’s first touchdown run of the game made it 21-14, but before the third quarter was up, Grizzlies’ running back Von Richardson scored from 19 yards to restore the margin to 27-14.
Shoemay then went 70 yards for a TD pass to Brandon Canuel to make it 27-21 before making his miraculous 79-yard run to tie the score.
“What a team they have and they kept making adjustments,” Smith said of Holy Cross. “When they made all of those give plays, it’s nothing we gave them. They took things away from us, and they made fantastic plays and played a heck of a game.”
No. 5 LANGLEY 28 vs. VERNON 27
VANCOUVER — A big interception late in the third quarter turned the tide for the Langley Saints.
Bryce Hamilton’s pick off Vernon quarterback Justin Haverkamp led to a one-yard rushing touchdown by Azuka Okoli and gave Langley all the cushion it would need en route to an eventual 28-27 win over the Vernon Panthers on Saturday in a Subway Bowl quarterfinal game at B.C. Place Stadium.
“It was a huge momentum shift in the game because it gave s the wind back in our sails,” said Langley assistant coach Ryk Piche. “At that point out sails were becoming deflated a bit.”
Haverkamp flung the ball down field while being tackled by Langley defensive lineman Ryan Alcos. The ball went right to linebacker Hamilton who was tackled at the Panthers’ 35-yard line. The extra-point convert, however, failed.
“He just lobbed it up for the air, I saw it and I went for it and I got it, it was a rush for sure,” said Hamilton.
On a game in which the emotions and momentum went up and down on both sidelines, the Saints were able to find a way.
“Our second half was better than our first,” said Okoli. “We made a lot of mistakes but we just have to pick it up for next game.”
The Panthers struck for back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter.
First, it was Ben Hladik taking a pitch and throwing a 45-yard touchdown strike to Levi Nicholas
Zack Hyer recovered the ball off the Panthers’ ensuing kick-off at the Langley 32-yard line, and after rushing to the one-yard line, Haverkamp called his own number to find his way across the goal line., giving Vernon a 21-20 lead.
Langley rallied with 1:57 left in the quarter when Van Vliet threw a 25-yard scoring strike to receiver Max Joseph for a 22-21 lead.
The Saints got the ball back when Haverkamp flung the ball down field while being tackled by Langley defensive lineman Ryan Alcos. The ball went right to linebacker Bryce Hamilton who was tackled at the Panthers’ 35-yard line.
On a drive that extended into the fourth quarter, the Saints took a 28-21 lead on a one-yard run on fourth down by Okoli. The extra-point convert failed.
The Saints rallied from a late interception to drive for a touchdown over the dying stages of the first half.
The Panthers’ Tyler Semeniuk had picked off Langley quarterback Wes Van Vliet, but Van Vliet shook it off and on his team’s next possession rambled 27 yards to the Vernon eight-yard line.
With 14 seconds remaining, Van Vliet then hooked up with receiver Jayden Korfman on the next snap, giving Langley a 15-7 lead at the half.
Langley had opened the scoring in the first quarter on running back Azuka Okoli’s 24-yard touchdown run. A Saints’ penalty on the convert attempt moved the ball back to the Vernon 23-yard line, but Van Vliet still found receiver Max Jospeh for a completion and an 8-0 lead.
Vernon came back to pull within a point, as quarterback Justin Haverkamp capped an impressive drive with a two-yard keeper.
The drive was highlighted by a 25-yard run by Haverkamp to the 10-yard line.
