New Westminster's Hyacks are off to a strong start this season finishing their first game six ahead of the South Delta Sun Devils.
In a game dedicated to the late Bill Kushnir, founder of both the Hyacks and Sun Devils programs, the Hyacks were quick on the draw against the visiting team last Thursday at Mercer Stadium.
Scoreless after the first quarter, New Westminster came back in the second quarter to lead 7-0 until the Sun Devils began their own comeback. The visitors managed to score a touchdown by the end of the second quarter to even out the score.
"The first quarter we didn't have the ball a lot," said Farhan Lalji, head coach of the varsity team.
The trend continued throughout the first half, and with the Hyacks lacking a lot of possession time by the third quarter, Lalji said it seemed the team was going nowhere.
"We started a lot of drives deep in our own end, and we couldn't flip the field," he added.
Despite some good effort from the team during the third quarter, it wasn't until quarterback Tommy Robertson scored his second touchdown of the night that things really got started for the boys in orange.
"They had us stopped on a drive - a roughing penalty, like a late hit penalty - which extended the drive and then on the next play Tommy had a 36-yard run and then we kind of got going at that point," Lalji said.
Robertson's second of the night came late in the third quarter to tie the Sun Devils at 14-14 with one quarter to go.
"In the third quarter, we weren't doing so well, it was a bit of a grind for us so that (Robertson's second touchdown) kind of changed the game," Lalji added.
Back on the field for the fourth quarter, the Hyacks managed a third touchdown, once again scored by Robertson, but missed the conversion to end the game at 20-14 for New Westminster.
The Hyacks' head coach hopes this year the team can focus on being tougher mentally in order to pull off wins like last week's comeback over the Sun Devils.
"Last year we really struggled, and we were 3-in-1 to start the season, then lost the next six games and missed the playoffs for the second time ever, so it was good for us to be able to come from behind and to win," Lalji said.
The varsity Hyacks will travel to Washington this Friday to face the Sequim Wolves who've won seven of their nine past title championships. The Hyacks are back at home on Sept. 13 for the annual Homecoming game. This year the Hyacks will take on Centennial. Game starts at 7:30 p.m. at Mercer Stadium. For more information, visit nwss.hyackfoot ball.com.
