The numbers from 27 hours of football in Burnaby and New Westminster are staggering.
Four games, 339 points, the No. 1 high school team in the province, a high school team reeling from its worst loss ever, first NCAA conference win for Simon Fraser University, and three hours and five minutes for a seemingly low-profile high school football game.
The storylines were many on Oct. 7 and 8, and where the story ended up is what makes sports so captivating: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and the emotions of players competing to the best of their abilities.
The Moscrop Panthers dropped a triple overtime 60-57 Tier II high school football game to Frank Hurt of Surrey on Oct. 7, in a game where only family and friends were present. Less than an hour after that game ended, the number-1-ranked high school team in the province, the St. Thomas More Knights, was playing the number 2 team, W.J. Mouat of Abbotsford in a nail-biting game that went to the final minute, with the Knights prevailing 25-20.
Taking place at almost exactly the same time, at a rocking Mercer Stadium in New Westminster, the Hyacks beat Carson Graham 33-26.
Sixteen hours later, at Fox Field at Simon Fraser University, the SFU Clan kicked off against Dixie State in yet another attempt to get their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference win in two seasons. More than three-and-a-half hours later, the Clan got that win, 62-56 in triple overtime.
The Record talked to many of the people involved in this momentous night in local football. Here's the story of four great football games.
MOSCROP VS. FRANK HURT
"I'm still pretty bitter about the loss," said Moscrop head coach Craig Bymoen three days afterwards.
The Panthers rolled up more than 500 yards in offence and even held a fourtouchdown lead at one point after running back the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown.
"Things started to go wrong after that," said Bymoen. "We lost two key guys with rolled ankles, and then I had to put a lot of guys into different positions."
Panthers' starting quarterback Jesse Johnston would finish 18-for-32 for 292 yards and three touchdowns in the air, adding five carries for 43 yards and one TD rushing.
"Jesse's really matured as a player and as a leader," said Bymoen. "I am extremely pleased with his play this year. He's a student of the game, and he's showing a lot of mental and physical maturity. This is a kid who was injured the last two seasons with a broken arm, and it's great to see him coming back like this."
Bymoen also had kind word for his talented slot receiver Marcus Perrin, who had six catches for 109 yards and one touchdown while wideouts Parm Bhullar and Mohammed Indakem combined for four catches, 130 yards and one touchdown.
The game, which lasted more than three hours, starting at 3 p.m. and going right until 6: 05 p.m. meant that St. Thomas More and W.J. Mouat had little time for pre-game festivities before their 7 p.m. game.
STM VS. MOUAT
The number-2 ranked Hawks from Abbotsford came out with visions of number 1 in their minds.
The teams traded touchdowns before STM took the lead in the second quarter when Kyle Madden, a New Westminster resident, showed his all-world skills on defence.
Tackling Devin Logan for a four-yard loss, Madden then snuck back into coverage on the next play, fooling Mouat quarterback Daniel Markin into throwing a pick that Madden returned to the Hawks' 26-yard-line.
On the next play, Carney scrambled in for the goahead touchdown.
An interested observer of the high school clash between number 1 and number 2 was Simon Fraser University head football coach Dave Johnson.
"I saw a lot of good athletes making big plays both offensively and defensively," said Johnson.
"The pick, that really impressed me," said Johnson. "Kyle's a very good athlete, and on that play, and the play before, he showed me a lot."
After Mouat took a 20-19 lead with three minutes left, Madden's 60-yard reception set up the Knights winning touchdown with 1: 58 left in the game.
"We have a midnight rule," said Knights head coach Bernie Kully. "Celebrate this victory until midnight, and then we start concentrating on next week's game. . We'll have a Monday run and film work."
NWSS VS. CARSON GRAHAM
Only 10 minutes down the road, Mercer Stadium was rocking on the night of Oct. 7.
One week after an embarrassing 62-14 home loss, the New Westminster Hyacks rebounded with a 33-26 win over the Carson Graham Eagles.
Hyacks head coach Farhan Lalji was so frustrated with the previous week's effort that he tested his players physically and mentally.
Not only was the 62-14 score kept on the scoreboard all week, the Hyacks had to practise on the grass and mud field instead of on the artificial turf at Mercer.
"The coaches said we had to earn the right to play at Mercer again," said Grade 10 quarterback Tommy Robertson. "And looking up at that 62, that wasn't much fun."
SFU CLAN VS. RED STORM
For the 450 people in attendance - Kyle Madden included - at Fox Field on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m., there was little reason to believe the hometown Clan would get their first GNAC victory.
But the teams combined for 1,034 offensive yards, 61 first downs and 118 points before the Clan could celebrate a 62-56 triple overtime victory.
Leading the charge for the Clan was running back Bo Palmer, who had 238 yards and two TDs.
His running mate, Burnaby native and former Notre Dame star Steve Spagnuolo, contributed his first NCAA touchdown and 43 rushing yards.
"We desperately needed this win," said Johnson. "Our kids outplayed their kids, and that is maybe the most satisfying thing."
Johnson said that while his players had moral victories in the past, a real victory was needed.
"We can build on this," he said. "I think this victory is something that we can build on. . Now that these guys know what it feels like to get a win, I think we're going to get addicted to this feeling," said Johnson.
With the SFU game ending at 5: 32 p.m., just a little more than 26.5 hours after Moscrop kicked off its Tier 2 game, a thrilling schedule of local football games came to a close.
Johnson gets the last word: "Football in B.C. is so good right now. Coaches are doing such a good job and the culture has really changed.
"The quality of our athletes has never been better, and the quality of the football shows it. . I'm proud to be a part of it."
