Sun tans, Mickey Mouse ears and a football win – last week’s tour of southern California saw the New Westminster Hyacks cover all the bases.
Buoyed by a 22-9 victory over Linfield Christian last week in Temecula, Calif., the Hyacks are gearing up to launch the 2017 B.C. AAA varsity football season off right.
If the defence can match or even improve on its performance against Linfield – which boasts three players receiving Div. 1 scholarship interest – then New West will have trouble downplaying its recent No. 2 in B.C. ranking.
“We certainly made our share of first-game mistakes, as did they, but as far as a first-game performance it’s probably as good as one we’ve had in some time,” noted head coach Farhan Lalji.
Surrendering a field goal on Linfield’s first possession, the Hyacks proceeded to put plenty of pressure on their U.S. hosts.
Grade 12 newcomer Sebastian Reid got the ball rolling, capitalizing on some key blocks to deliver the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for the first major of the year.
“It was a well-blocked play. It wasn’t like (Reid) had to break a lot of tackles,” noted Lalji. “He’s a talented kid but overall it was a well-blocked play that got him over the edge and down the sideline.”
While Linfield would answer back on their first possession of the second half to take a 9-8 lead, it would also be the last points they scored.
New West took over and, backed by a dominating outing from the defence, pulled away on 14 unanswered points.Scoring second-half touchdowns were Broxx Comia and Michael Kingsley and a two-point convert from Sammy Sidhu.
“We just want to cut down on mistakes and play good fundamental football,” said Lalji. “What I was happiest about in (Lindfield game) was probably how well we tackled defensively and how well we ran to the ball, so we need to do more of that and keep working at those fundamental things. Even offensively, we have to finish blocks and not make mistakes.”
It was a fitting set-up for this Friday’s test, 7 p.m. when they host perennial Oregon power Scapoose at Mercer Stadium.
Prone in the past to peaking too early, New West is well-versed in what’s at stake this year, with key seniors like Lucas
Sabau, Sidhu and linemen Yanni Angel-opolous and Isaiah James aiming to lead their teammates to a Subway Bowl.
But nothing is being taken for granted, said Lalji.
“I don’t think our guys are going to get too far ahead of themselves. They kind of know what the prize is at the end of the year, and we’ve been too close to get ahead of ourselves early. We’ve been kind of guilty of playing our best football early and not late, so that’s not going to happen,” he said.
After Scapoose, the focus turns to the annual homecoming game, Sept. 8, 7:30 p.m. against Mission at Mercer Stadium.
