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Offence stalls as Hyacks suffer first loss

Going unbeaten through the regular season is highly overrated anyways. The New Westminster Hyacks suffered their first setback of the 2019 AAA football season, falling 27-0 to Vancouver College last week.
Hyacks fall
The New Westminster Hyacks suffered their first setback of the regular season, falling to Vancouver College 27-0 last week. They'll look to get back to their winning ways on Friday, 2 p.m., when they host Belmont.

Going unbeaten through the regular season is highly overrated anyways.

The New Westminster Hyacks suffered their first setback of the 2019 AAA football season, falling 27-0 to Vancouver College last week.

Scoreless late into the second half, the wheels of the cart began to fall off when the No. 2-ranked Fighting Irish scored on a 22-yard run. A few minutes later, the Hyacks forced a turnover deep in Vancouver territory and appeared to have scored on a passing play from Payton Meyers, only to have the receiver called out of bounds. A field goal attempt moments later was blocked.

Vancouver would widen its lead with three more majors in the second half.

“We played pretty well defensively, and our first two drives were able to move the ball, but we just couldn’t finish,” Hyacks coach Farhan Lalji said. “We had all the momentum (on the forced fumble and waved-off touchdown), and after that it kind of fell out of our hands.”

In the second half, New West was held without a first down, as Meyers finished with three interceptions on the day. Picking up 11 tackles and two QB sacks was Deakon Young.

The Fighting Irish got three touchdowns from Daesaun Johnson, including runs of 22 and 30 yard.

“For the most part it was a pretty competitive game except that final few minutes (of the first half),” Lalji lamented. “There was essentially a five-minute gap where it came apart.”

He noted that while the defence had a decent outing, the offence struggled to get the big yardage plays that had helped them win their first four conference games.

“This is a good wake-up call for us, to show us we have to be better,” he noted. “Offensively, the bottom line is we have to be able to attack all parts of the field. If we don’t, we become to easy to defend.”

The Hyacks, who sit tied with Vancouver College for second place in the Western Conference and are ranked third overall with a 4-1 record, host Belmont on Friday for a rare 2 p.m. kick-off at Mercer Stadium.