There were few razzle-like breakouts and even less dazzle, but what Vancouver College Fighting Irish had over the New Westminster Hyacks was a head start.
New West saw its season come to a halt last Saturday in a 28-12 loss to Vancouver College in the B.C. Subway Bowl AAA high school semifinals at B.C. Place.
“They obviously have great depth and we kind of got worn down but we made a couple of little mistakes that we couldn’t recover from,” remarked New West defensive coordinator Chad Oatway. “Letting them start off with a touchdown was a tough thing but we battled back. We were in it for a little while but we just couldn’t seal the deal at critical points in the game when we needed to.”
VanCollege used its first possession to march down field and take the lead, and the Hyacks could only move the flags to midfield before having to punt it away. A short punt late in the quarter gave the Irish good field position in which to mount its second score, pushed across from the one-yard line two minutes into the second frame.
New West got on the board when Jamie Shiho hit Justin Swartz with an 18-yard TD pass late in the second quarter. The extra-point kick clanged off the upright, shadowing the offence’s fate over the next half.
In the second half, VanCollege added to its lead thanks to a miraculous catch by Rysen John, who somehow beat his defender and stretched his 6-foot-5 frame its maximum to bring down quarterback Jacob Samuels’ 34-yard pass. The next play was a one-yard plunge, putting the Hyacks back 21-6.
“There were not a lot of big break (outs) on either side, but Johns made an undefensible catch that we had no answer. A kid that’s 6-5 makes a spectacular catch on the one was a tough one to swallow because we had them at third and long,” remarked Oatway.
Both teams would add another score – New West’s coming with three minutes left on Shiho’s one-yard keeper. Down by nine, the team attempted a two-point convert that failed, and was unable to turn the ensuing onside kick. The Irish iced it with an eight-yard run to cap the offence, garnering VanCollege its first trip to the B.C. finals since 2012.
For New West, the loss muddied what still stands as a strong season where their 7-5 record flickered with golden moments.
“We’ve been in a little bit of a hole for the last, I don’t know how many years, but they got our program back to where we’d like to see it be, contending,” said Oatway. “If we get a stop, another score it’s a different ball game. Maybe it could have started a different way but they have us there, they have us contending.”
While the roster will pare 19 players through graduation, a new core from this year’s B.C. junior finalists will be ready for the next step.
