It may seem a lot cooler in the air, but it’s heating up on the gridiron.
The New Westminster Hyacks garnered a repeat win in the Kushnir Boot rivalry game with South Delta, returning home after a 20-6 victory.
Honouring one of the former founders of both programs, the annual matchup has become a circled event on the schedule. This year’s tilt, with the Hyacks as defending provincial champions, had a ‘Frank’s Red Hot sauce’ quality to it.
“The game took a lot of twists and turns and had an emotional element,” said New West coach Farhan Lalji. “We’d drive deep into their territory (in the scoreless first quarter) but couldn’t put it across.”
While emotions threatened to boil over, it was the steady demeanor of the Hyacks defence which set the tone most of the game.
New West’s Ajay Chol climbed a ladder on two occasions and pulled down touchdowns, catching Kinsale Phillip’s pass from 29-yards out to open the scoring early in the second quarter. A Zachery Northgraves’ convert made it 7-0.
After South Delta put up its own 29-yard TD score but failed on a two-point convert attempt, Chol hauled in another Phillips pass, this time from 16 yards out.
“Chol went up twice on contested balls and came down with it,” said Lalji. “He’s got a real good ability to battle for those balls.”
Austin Galbraith, a Grade 11 defensive back, registered two interceptions on the day, including a 31-yard TD return that completed the offence.
On defence, Arjun Bal and Titgol Jok netted four tackles each and Shaye Rathjen counted three tackles, including two for losses. Pavan Kainth added a fumble recovery to his two-tackle day.
The Hyacks will put their undefeated mark on the line Friday, 7:30 p.m. against fellow 3-0 Notre Dame at Burnaby Lake.
