Even a day after what he called one of the worst losses he's ever suffered as a coach, Farhan Lalji was stunned at what happened at Mercer Stadium Friday afternoon.
"I don't know what happened," said Lalji of his New Westminster Hyacks after they lost 62-14 to the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers on Friday afternoon. "It was a legit game for almost a half . and then our kids wilted, and that's just not acceptable. You cannot do that. You have to play with pride. It's not acceptable to give up. We have to find ways to battle."
Lalji said he was so stunned at the loss that his post-game talk to his team was only 30 seconds long.
"I had very little to say," he said. "I was so embarrassed, I couldn't bring myself to say any more."
The TSN Turning Point for the Hyacks came with only 20 seconds left in the first half and the Hyacks down only 21-14.
Grade 10 quarterback Tommy Robertson had played an efficient first half, twice throwing touchdown passes to Jeremy Wilson to keep the Hyacks in the game and he drove the Hyacks down to the Panthers 20-yard-line.
"We only had one timeout, and I wanted to go to the hurry-up (offence)," said Lalji. "Tommy hadn't looked comfortable in practice with the no-huddle, so I brought Regan in."
Regan Eberding, the Hyacks regular starting QB who is still nursing a lower body injury, was only slated to play defensively for the Hyacks, but Lalji summoned him in for what he thought would be the final three plays of the half.
On the next play, Eberding was intercept-
ed by Panther Dayton Campbell Harris, who returned the pick 74 yards for a Lord Tweedsmuir 28-14 halftime lead.
"That's on me," said Lalji, "I overcoached. Tommy didn't do anything wrong, . and I was just trying to do the right thing, but I put Regan in a very tough situation, and for that one play, I take the blame."
What happened in the second half was a nightmare for anybody wearing orange and black.
Nathan Carroll returned the opening kickoff of the second half 76 yards for anoth-er Panthers' score, and the undefeated Surrey squad were off to the races, adding four more touchdowns before the final whistle.
"It wasn't a horrible first half," said Lalji. "Our kids showed a resiliency in continuing to come back in the first half. ... But what happened in the second half overshadowed all of that. 62 points ... are you kidding me?"
Lalji said Friday's loss ranks beside last year's 49-0 Homecoming loss to Terry Fox as the most disappointing defeats in his nine years at the helm of the Hyacks.
"This was the most points we've given up," said Lalji. "You have to own it. Hopefully, our kids have a better week of practice. We have to be mentally tougher, physically tougher and we have to tackle better."
Lalji admitted his team didn't have a great week of practice and wonders if the squad was on too much of a high after its Homecoming win over Mt. Boucherie on Sept. 23. That won't be a problem this week, as there were few positives to be taken from Friday's beatdown.
"Tommy continues to grow," said Lalji. "He's showing a lot more poise and his decision-making gets better and better. . Jeremy (Wilson) had a good game. He continued to battle on both sides of the ball. . That's about it for the positives."
The Panthers were led by their stud quarterback Mike Messenger, who rushed for touchdowns of 31, nine, 21 and 15 yards and also threw a 10-yard score to Austin Iredale. Messenger finished five-of-seven through the air for 118 yards and one interception, while also running for 129 yards on nine carries.
"We're going to be his highlight film," Lalji said. "When he puts together his (highlight) package, there's going to be a lot from their game against us."
The Panthers are now 4-0 while the Hyacks fall to 2-3. The Hyacks host Carson Graham at Mercer Stadium this Friday at 7: 30 p.m. and Lalji hopes to have Eberding back at full strength and leading his team.
"Who's our starting quarterback? That's a good question. We'll see how Regan's doing. It's still his team. There's very little to choose from between Tommy and Regan as passers, but Regan's a bit more of an explosive runner. He's a big part of our offence if he's healthy. . If he can't run, that changes things."
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