Standing their ground, the New Westminster Hyacks’ defence proved to be an anchor that the offence could count on.
In their B.C. High School AAA football quarter-
final against St. Thomas More, the Hyacks’ D accomplished its goal and gave both time and space for the team to pile up points in a 27-13 win at BC Place.
The moments where the offence stalled, the defence played big brother, clamping down on the Knights attack and creating key stops and turnovers.
For a club that chalked up many of its wins with an ‘offence-first’ approach, Saturday’s result was a major step – but not one that was totally unexpected.
“Our defence was really stellar tonight and that really gave us on offence momentum to drive the ball,” said quarterback Jamie Shiho. “Even when our spark sort of died and we couldn’t put points on the board our defence was there to spark it back up. The defence was incredible.”
New West racked up 370 yards to STM’s 175, and looked positively primed to face the Vancouver College Fighting Irish in Saturday’s semifinal, 7:30 p.m. at BC Place.
It was evident early, as the Knights managed little movement and New West’s first few drives stalled inside the 20.
David Penalver put up the first score, a 22-yard run down the right side midway through the first quarter. Later in the frame, More was stopped in their tracks and Grade 11 Trew Dancey dashed 45 yards to make it 14-0 with a minute left.
The linebacker tandem of Jeff Lugtu and Marcel Wang combined for 12 tackles, with Lugtu tallying seven and a key interception seconds into the second quarter that led to Dancey’s second major. Kevin Osea, meanwhile, pulled down a pair of interceptions and helped silence the Knights passing game.
A penalty would scrub a Michael Thind 25-yard TD catch to start the fourth, but New West made good on its next attempt, when Gurvir Ghuman motored in from 40 yards to give the Hyacks a 27-0 lead.
More put its points up on the board with five minutes left, first with Lucas Dall-Vecchia crashing in from 20 yards, followed by Tyler Eckert’s blocked punt that he corralled and put into the end zone with 2:56 on the clock.
“I thought it was a decisive win, despite what the score looked like late,” said New West coach Farhan Lalji. “We’ve been a real offensive team the last few weeks, but our defence was fantastic tonight. They gave them nothing… While the game was still in doubt, our D was fantastic.”
There was little to criticize in his team’s performance, other than some nerves at the start and a brief lapse in discipline which could be costly against the Fighting Irish on Saturday.
“Once we kind of scored our first touchdown we got our legs under us a little bit,” noted Lalji. “Those moments were sort of disappointing, we have been able to cut down the penalties the last two weeks and that really hurt us in those moments. We’ve got to fix that because you can’t make those mistakes against College.”
The Hyacks are eager to take a second shot at College, with a 49-21 loss in mid-October as merely a reference point.
“In the first half (against Vancouver) we were really able to move the ball I thought on offence. Our defence was pretty good too. In the second half we just lost the momentum but I think we can play with them. I really do,” said Shiho. “Every game gets bigger, every game gets more pressure but we’re going to do what we do, prepare all week in practice and get into our scouting reports. Nothing changes.”
Coach Lalji concurs.
“I’m not interested in Vancouver College, I’m interested in ourselves. And I don’t mean that with any disrespect, it’s on us. If I worry too much about them it’s like we’re expecting an act of God, and I’m not. If we play our game we can play with anybody.”
This is the team’s first foray into the Final Four since 2009. The other semifinal pits undefeated Terry Fox against Mount Doug, kicking off at 2:30 p.m.
