The New Westminster Hyacks broke a cardinal rule in sports by awakening a sleeping giant in their high school football season opener in Texas.
Hyack quarterback Mackenzie Ratcliffe and wide receiver Matt Seymour connected on a 71-yard touchdown pass and run on the opening offensive scrimmage but wound up on the losing end of a 62-13 decsion to the Grandview Zebras last Friday.
Grandview QB Zach Smith, who is already committed to Baylor University although still in Grade 11 and is ranked among the top-10 2016 graduating pivots in the country, responded, building up a 39-7 half time lead.
Jordan Martinez, recently named one of the most under-rated running backs in the country, also had a big day for the Zebras, running in three fourth-quarter touchdowns.
“They’re a good football team and one of the top AAA football teams in the state,” said Hyacks head coach Farhan Lalji. “But we competed quite well physically.”
New West’s other two scores came from Wayne Palmer, who booted a pair of second-half field goals from 34 and 39 yards out.
The first kick was set up following a 47-yard run to the Grandview 19-yard line by Julian Ramirez.
The Hyacks played Grandview even 6-6 throughout the third quarter, before New West substituted freely to give every player a chance to experience Friday night football in Texas.
“We gave them some freebies and (Smith) is that good he took them,” said Lalji. “But I’m really happy with our defensive front seven, particularly Jorge Yarwood and Ebrahiem Farraghi.”
Linebackers Jeff Lugtu, Jonathan Tomalty and Marcel Wang were also singled out for praise by Lalji.
“We weren’t physically mismatched,” Lalji repeated, adding Grandview’s preseason began weeks ahead of that of New West.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and that’s what it’s all about,” added Lalji. “Other than the final score, there was nothing bad about it.”
The Hyacks junior varsity team made a better showing on the scoreboard, while having a chance to win its game on the final drive before falling 20-16 to Grandview’s junior team.
New West led 16-12 at halftime on a pair of short touchdown runs by Sammy Sidhu, set up on big plays from Connor Pattison and Trew Dancy.
In the final minute of the fourth quarter, New West QB Lucas Sabau drove the ball down to the Grandview 18-yard line before throwing an inteception in the red zone with just 30 seconds left on the clock.
“We’re very proud of how hard these kids played. … That will be a great sign for us moving forward,” said Lalji.
