They’ve got the playoff spot well in hand, but the New Westminster Hyacks aren’t satisfied.
On the heels of a 30-12 win over the Carson Graham Eagles, the No. 1-ranked senior AAA football squad in B.C. is looking at Friday’s showdown against the 5-1 South Delta Sun Devils as a major must for their Subway Bowl drive.
A victory would clinch the Western Conference regular season title and earn New West a bye into the playoff’s second round.
“We need to win if we want the division title,” remarked Hyacks coach Farhan Lalji. “Not that we’re any more banged up than anyone, but a bye through the first round gives you that extra time to recover and prepare.”
It could be a preview of a potential Subway final tilt, too. The Sun Devils were in step with New West as both were 5-0 heading into last week, before the Seaquam Seahawks upended South Delta 22-14.
A win Friday means that either the Hyacks enter the playoffs a perfect 7-0 as division champs, or start the next stage as the second-best Western squad. And for the locals, that last option doesn’t sit well.
Lalji said South Delta, who were ranked No. 2 in B.C. prior to last week’s loss, will provide the best test yet for his top-rated squad.
“I don’t think anything that Seaquam did (last week) takes away anything in our opinion of South Delta,” he noted. “(Quarterback Michael) Calvert is still an elite player, they have some real good athletes around him. (Calvert) is a game-changing player and when you look at him you think of Taylor Loffler (the B.C. High School Player of the Year in 2010 and current Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ star safety).”
Friday’s game (7 p.m. at Mercer Stadium) is also Seniors Night, where the program honours those graduating Grade 12s, as well as a special presentation from Nissan Canada. Both New West and South Delta were selected to receive Nissan Kickoff Project awards of $5,000, which will go towards funding the program.
Against Carson Graham, New West bolted to a 21-0 first half lead, capped when quarterback Kinsale Philip
scrambled 23 yards for a touchdown, part of a 99-yard drive that clipped through just over a minute of clock time.
A Zachery Northgraves’ field goal made it 24-0 before the Eagles put some points on the board.
Also scoring for the Hyacks were Sebastien Reid, on a 20-yard TD run, Michael Kingsley, with a three-yard push, and Philip, from 11-yards out.
Lucas Sabau did everything but score in racking up 187 yards rushing, while fellow running back Sammy Sidhu stuck to the defensive side this game only, piling up a team-high 11 tackles.
New West was also without rusher Broxx Comia.
While Lalji said his players may have looked past Carson Graham a bit, it won’t be an issue this week.
Now, the focus is entirely on South Delta.
“We’re viewing this as a playoff game. We talked as a staff about how with this game, our season starts now. We want that league championship, (and) we want to win on Seniors Night.”
