The New Westminster Hyacks were stopped in their playoff tracks by the Terry Fox Ravens on Friday.
The Western Conference wild-card winner turned the ball over early against the No. 1-ranked Ravens and paid dearly for it, dropping a 37-0 decision in a wet and windy B.C. high school AAA football quarter-final matchup at Percy Perry Stadium.
New Westminster fumbled the ball away on its first play from scrimmage and then coughed up the ball again on the ensuing kickoff after a quick Ravens' score.
Terry Fox also capitalized on a third fumble giveaway in the third quarter.
"We blinked and it was 13-0 before the game was four minutes old," said Hyacks head coach Farhan Lalji. "You can't gift a team that good three touchdowns and unfortunately we did that."
The Hyacks generated just 168 yards of offence, including a combined 90 yards through the air from quarterbacks Mackenzie Ratcliffe and Jamie Shiho.
Shiho completed three-of-three passes, including two for 48 yards to Dylan Musgrove, who also pulled in a 30-yard toss from Ratcliffe for a total of 78 yards.
All-conference wide receiver Matt Seymour had just three pass receptions for 12 yards.
Lalji praised his defensive line of Ebrahiem Farroghi, Hakam Williams and all-conference players Harper Sherman and Jorge Yarwood for their play in the loss.
The big four led the Hyacks in tackling, teaming up for a combined 17 tackles.
"I thought our defence did some very good things, especially in the first half," Lalji said. "We forced them to throw the ball in bad condititions, and (Fox was) able to do it, so full marks to them."
Ravens' pivot Conner McKee completed five of 11 pass attempts for 101 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Mike West. He also scored off a short keeper in the second half.
West made his presence felt on defence as well, leading all tacklers with 10 individual stops, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
Terry Fox advances to the semifinals against South Delta later this week at the University of British Columbia's Thunderbird Stadium.
