The New Westminster Hyacks have some key holes to fill.
The varsity Hyacks fell to 1-2 in B.C. AAA high school football following a 33-6 loss to the Terry Fox Ravens at Percy Perry Stadium last Friday.
"It's not an excuse for not competing but we didn't prepare as hard as we should have," said New Westminster head coach Farhan Lalji.
Playing without starting quarterback Regan Eberding and other absences in the Hyacks' line, New Westminster also lost the services of fullback/linebacker Connor Brady for the season with a broken ankle.
The end result has been a trying exercise in finding suitable replacements.
"At the end of the day that guy that replaced them had to compete and they really haven't," added Lalji.
The one exception was the play of Grade 10 pivot Tommy Robertson, who played well after replacing starter Serafino Gentile, scoring the team's only touchdown on a one-yard run late in the game.
New Westminster fell behind 7-0 in the opening quarter and trailed by three scores at halftime.
Robertson engineered a potential scoring drive in the second quarter that fizzled out on the Fox goal line when tight end Jeremy Wilson caught a pass inside the red zone but was stopped on the one-yard line with no time left on the clock.
After narrowing the deficit to 26-6 on Robertson's touchdown, New Westminster gave up a disappointing run back to the Ravens, allowing Jeff Brady to take the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a TD.
Although all is not doom and gloom in the Hyacks' locker room, Lalji admitted more players have to step up to the level of play that has been lost with the injuries.
"We're trying as much as anything to hang on until these kids are back," he said.
That will not be easy as New Westminster has no pushovers ahead of them leading up to the regular season, including a Lord Tweedsmuir squad on Sept. 30 that won the Big Kahuna 7 on 7 Passing Challenge earlier this summer.
Meanwhile, New Westminster has little time to prepare to host another much-improved Mount Boucherie program that has every intention of competing in the Okanagan conference at this Friday's Homecoming Game at Mercer Stadium.
The key to New West stopping the Bears' will be to get to its star quarterback and somehow stop the team's throwing game, said Lalji.
"This is going to challenge us because passing has been a weakness (of ours)," admitted Lalji.
Kickoff for this week's Homecoming Game against Mount Boucherie is 7: 30 p.m.
But come early and enjoy the live entertainment and cammaraderie with Hyacks alumni including those from the early NWSS and Pearson/ Massey eras.
