The common mantra of coaches and players everywhere is the “take it one game at a time.”
This Saturday’s showdown between the New Westminster junior Hyacks and Mount Douglas Rams fits that cliché perfectly.
The two squads have a date in the Subway Bowl B.C. Junior AAA High School football championship final, kicking off at 1:30 p.m. at B.C. Place.
All that has been achieved and said now comes to four quarters.
New West, which advanced to the final with a thorough 66-38 win over previously undefeated Seaquam last week, has its own unblemished record on the line. What’s more valuable is what they’ve learned since their 47-46 win over the Rams on Oct. 23 on the Island.
“When we played them it was back and forth so we kind of expect the same thing,” noted coach Darnell Sikorski. “We have to go out and execute and play hard because they will be extremely motivated to beat us because of what happened earlier in the year. We have to be ready.”
That gameplan has worked well so far, and was on display for much of last Thursday’s decision over Seaquam.
The Hyacks exploded for 27 points in the second quarter alone to lead 34-8 at halftime, with Shane Belsher pulling down a pair of touchdown passes from Kinsale Philip. Coupled with rushing majors by Broxx Comia, Sammy Sidhu and Philip, the offensive outlay put New West in perfect shape for the second half.
The offence continued to pile up, with Lucas Sabau scoring two TDs and singles by Robertson Yagyog, Comia and Sidhu. All four posted 100-plus yards rushing.
The defence was led by Yanni Angelopoulos, who pulled down on Seaquam pass, and Isaiah James and Finn Stark.
“We kind of knew going in that (Seaquam) was undefeated, a real good team and at that point in the season everyone’s really, really good,” noted Sikorski. “We kind of expected a back-and-forth battle and it was early. Eventually our offensive and defensive lines just took over the game.”
Maintaining the momentum, which has witnessed New West outscore its playoff opponents 142-64 over the past two weeks, will be critical. So will getting a handle on Mt. Doug’s standout quarterback Gideone Kremler, who as a Grade 9 racked up 685 passing yards over four junior games – while also seeing starting duty with the senior Rams, where he posted 806 yard passing, including 11 TDs, with the varsity side.
““For us, we’ve got to get to that quarterback (Kremler),” said Sikorski. “He’s a ninth grader but he starts for both the varsity and JV teams and they are both in the finals. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a quarterback play that much at so young… He’s done it, played our JV game and 30 minutes later played our varsity team.
“I’ve never seen a quarterback like that – that young and so good, so we have to do our best to contain him. They’ve got other good athletes and linemen, but we have to find a way to stop him.”
