Rested and ready, the New Westminster Hyacks now roll up their sleeves.
Last week’s bye and having home field advantage may play in their favour, but the Western Conference regular season champs aren’t taking them to the bank, as they prepare for Friday’s quarter-final against the Mount Douglas Rams.
The game (Friday, 2 p.m. at Mercer Stadium) pits a pair of dynamic offences against resilient defences, with both squads riding winning waves.
It’s a heckuva test to start the playoffs, but the Hyacks are as ready for a game as they can be.
“The thing with Mount Doug is, and I’ve admired this about their program, they always play their best football at the end of the season and in the biggest games,” remarked New West head coach Farhan Lalji. “Sometimes we peak early, (but Mt. Doug) play their best at the end; their coaches do a really good job of preparing them.”
The Rams have rolled up four straight wins and are 5-3 since Kremler returned to the lineup.
Having gone 7-0 through the regular season, Lalji’s charges have not been too shabby at most aspects of the game, either.
New West’s defence has continued to clamp it down after surrendering 27 points to Notre Dame a month ago. The final three games saw the Hyacks hold their rivals to two scores or less, while putting up 149 points over the same time.
“I just think we have to be balanced. Some people view balance as run-pass; I view balance as getting the right guys the ball enough,” noted the coach. “However we choose to get the ball to Sammy (Sidhu), Sebastien (Ryan), Broxx (Comia), Lucas (Sabau) and (quarterback) Kinsale (Philip), we spread it around. We have a lot of weapons so we’ll be sure they all get involved.”
Lalji said a lot has changed for Mount Doug since New West earned a 29-6 win in mid-September. And that comes down to the Victoria school’s starting quarterback, who missed the first four weeks due to injury.
“They’re a much different team than the one we faced earlier this year with (Grade 11 Gideone) Kremler back in the lineup. He certainly makes them a very, very formidable opponent. … He’s just a smart kid who gets the ball out early, knows where to put it and the other kids feel their better when he’s in.”
Since then, Kremler has piloted his team to four straight wins, completing 56.5 per cent of his throws and hitting for nine touchdowns. The Grade 11 pivot has also thrown 10 interceptions.
He’s the type of leader who, when on his game, elevates his whole team, said Lalji.
Among his favourite targets are Sebastian Hansen, who has 31 catches and 470 yards, and Hayden Naylor, with 16 receptions for an average of 21.13 yards per.
Zairech Kremler, Gideone’s twin, provides some polished rushing skills, having tallied five TDs with an average march of 6.44 yards.
Where the difference may come is on the line, where both lineups have proven to be capable table-setters.
The Hyacks’ Yanni Angelopolous and Isaiah James earned conference all-star honours, and are supplemented by Anthony Dillman and Daniel Dordevic. Mount Douglas’ Jake Ounsted also earned a conference all-star, as did linebacker Soren Hallschmid and Naylor at defensive back.
“Of all the teams we’ve faced, I think Mount Doug has the best line play, and that’s an area we’re going to have to just be that much better in because Ounsted is one of their linemen and he’s very good on both sides of the ball. They’ve got in my opinion, the best line we’ve face at this point,” added Lalji.
If the Hyacks defence plays as well as it did two weeks ago, when it stymied conference offensive MVP Michael Calvert, they have agood shot at advancing to the semifinals.
New West’s secondary, led by the likes of Severio Asaba and Taran Birdi, has displayed the wheels and game IQ to keep pace with rival receivers.
Building on their 63-16 win over South Delta is what the coach is hoping to see.
“We’ve progressed, we’ve certainly showed what we’re capable of in the last game, but there are areas where we need to progress in,” Lalji said.
