There may be a little more swagger and confidence entering the start of the New Westminster Hyacks’ training camp next week, but from the outset the tone will all be on what to do, not what’s been done.
Last year’s Subway Bowl AAA varsity champions now focus on starting the 2018 B.C. High School season on the same footing as every other team in the circuit – preparing for that first game.
Head coach Farhan Lalji said that while last year’s triumph continues to have lingering effects, it doesn’t mean anything in the current scheme of things.
“It was a nice way to finish and to win, but it’s over,” said Lalji. “None of that’s going to do much this year once the first game has started. It was good and I’m not trying to minimize it, but it doesn’t change the approach. You enjoy it in December, there were some good moments, but now we have to move on and coach hard.”
And that job hasn’t stopped since the new year. Strategizing and mapping out possible position battles, the coaches will now get a clearer look at how things shape up after an active summer, which included a seven-week program overseen by assistant coach Darnell Sikorski that ran the players through an intense, three-times-a-week program meant to get them ready for camp.
There will be the usual questions, with the team graduating a strong class of leaders, around positions and roles. But Lalji is pleased with what looks like an impressive mix of returnees and newcomers who’ll be tasked with taking up the torch.
“Some players who didn’t have as big a role now will get to have a big role and those guys are excited about those opportunities. As coaches, what was really special about our group last year was, that every time we needed a big play we found it,” he said, reflecting on a year where the Hyacks went 7-0 and completed a three-game march through the playoffs with a thrilling 15-14 victory over Terry Fox.
“In the playoffs, all three games, there were critical times when someone needed to make a play and we had that moment and found a way – and it was often different people, it wasn’t always the same people.”
Some of last year’s biggest game-breakers – Sammy Sidhu, Sebastien Reid and Lucas Sabau on offence, Yanni Angelopolous, Isaiah James and Finn Stark – have graduated, creating big roles to fill.
Lalji said there is no shortage of strong candidates in this year’s crop.
“We have guys we’re really excited about at a number of positions, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” he noted. “Our (defensive)-line should be really good and that’s saying something when you lose guys like Isaiah and Yanni, that we still think we can be a very good group on the defensive line. (Grade 12) Evan Nolli, we’re really excited about the year he’s going to have – he’s trained really hard and is going to be the cornerstone like Yanni was last year.”
Lalji also envisions strong seasons from the likes of Daniel Dordevic, Pavan Kainth, Steven Sharma and Vishaan Narayan on the line, while the secondary will benefit from the talent of Arjun Bal, Broxx Comia, Isaiah Daniels and Ajay Chol.
Comia will also get called to be one of the main ball carriers, working alongside Michael Kingsley to make the most of the path cleared by the linemen. Directing it all is returning starting quarterback Kinsale Philip, who Lalji expects to be both a conduit and creator when it comes to the offence.
Philip, who completed 26 of 57 pass attempts for eight touchdowns during the regular season, will be tasked with building on what was a run-heavy Wing-T attack last year. That includes using his own scrambling skills to move the ball down field.
“(Philip) will add to our running game. Our passing game, we’d like to throw it more, but we need him to become a consistent quarterback and not just a good thrower,” said Lalji. “He has a great arm but he’s got to become a more consistent decision maker, because we don’t have a guy like Sebastien you can just throw up to and he’ll make a play.”
While Reid’s and Sidhu’s explosiveness may be missed – the two combined for 14 offensive majors – the roles have eager players ready to bring the noise.
New West faces its first test on Aug. 31 against Liberty High, outside of Seattle. It’s the annual southern road trip that gives the group a feel for high intensity football – New West kicked off 2017 with a 22-9 win over Linfield, California.
Although the score of an exhibition game won’t matter when it’s over, the effort and lessons applied will. Those are things that Lalji hopes those returning and those incoming can gain from the 2017 championship season.
“Certainly as a coaching staff we’re not looking at it differently because we won last year. That doesn’t really matter at this stage. It’s just about building a football team and getting ready for the schedule. The rest of that stuff isn’t really that important.
“Are there lessons to be learned? You know there are, and there’s also motivation because kids want to continue to live up to that standard and they like that winning feeling and want to win again.”
The Hyacks first home game is Sept. 7 when they host Carson Graham at Mercer Stadium.
