Welcome to the Saturday night edition of Varsity Letters’ B.C. High School Football Report.
SATURDAY
TRIPLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
VANCOUVER COLLEGE 28 at SEAQUAM 0
NORTH DELTA — The host Seaquam Seahawks played shutdown football for virtually the entire first half.
Yet the Vancouver College Fighting Irish kept trying to break open the floodgates, and once they did, the offence came with regularity en route to a 28-0 win in the Western Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon.
Quarterback Eric Zychlinski hit receiver Owen Ker with a 28-yard touchdown pass to snap a scoreless tie about two minutes before halftime.
And thenthe Irish went about building on their 7-0 halftime lead throughout the final two quarters.
Running back Aiden Perry, who carried six times for 108 yards, scored on the game’s longest play, a 79-yard run to the end zone on the second play of the second half.
In the fourth quarter, Vancouver College added two more touchdowns as Zychlinski scored on a one-yard keeper, and Daesaun Johnson on a one-yard run. Kaijaun Johnson made an interception. Connor Louis kicked all four converts.
Robert Mendez led the defence with 14 tackles, while Matt Hoag had 10 and Javon Chahal eight.
Seaquam plays host to Notre Dame this coming Saturday while Vancouver College plays host to Belmont in its home opener Saturday.
PACIFIC CONFERENCE
SULLIVAN HEIGHTS 0 at SARDIS 42
CHILLIWACK — They ushered in the re-birth of Falcons football Saturday in front of a full house by honouring one of their own: the late, great Rick Klassen.
The former Falcon and B.C. Lion has his No. 31 jersey retired at halfitme.
And on the field, Sardis had plenty of other reasons to celebrate, beating fellow start-up Sullivan Heights Stars of Surrey 42-0 in the AAA Pacific Conference opener for both teams.
“The team was jacked to finally get into uniform and play a game,” said Falcons’ head coach Adam Smith. “The weather held off long enough to unleash Air Chilliwack.”
Roughly translated, that’s short for quarterback Josh Janssen, who passed for five touchdowns in his first-ever high school start.
Nick Butler caught a pair of those scoring strikes, while Kurtis Flynn and ninth graders Ryan Jansen and D.J. Stephens did likewise in the win.
Earlier, Stephens had electrified the crowd on the opening play of the game, lining up in wildcat formation and taking the snap 68 yards for the score on the re-born program’s first-ever play from scrimmage.
Stephens added an interception. Kurtis Flynn forced a fumble and Ben Frost added an interception. Eric Gustfaon had two sacks.
“We didn’t recover until it was 28-0,” admitted Sullivan head coach Gord Randall, whose team played a scoreless third quarter. “We just need our players to start getting a little more into the mental side of the game. Blown assignments and reads plagued us all afternoon, and when we repeat the same mistakes over and over again we can’t make up for that. We also have to be more ready at the start of the game, and can’t take a full quarter to settle in.”
Offensively, Caden McTaggart was strong for the Stars, pulling in some balls despite drawing double coverage all afternoon. Ele Cababaro,a ninth grader, was the team’s best defensive player.
DOUBLE A
NON-CONFERENCE
NO. 4 G.W. GRAHAM 6 at HOLY CROSS 22
SURREY — The first week of Varsity Letters’ Big 5 rankings held across the board at both tiers.
That is until Saturday afternoon when Surrey’s Holy Cross Crusaders came up with what the numbers tell you was the week’s biggest upset.
After building an 8-6 halftime lead, the Crusaders exploded in the second half, led by the rushing efforts and three interceptions by standout Silas Marchan.
“It was an excellent effort by the boys today,” said Holy Cross head coach Conrad Deugau. “They played hard from start to finish and rolled with the ups and downs of the game.”
Quarterback Andrew Hunt threw second-half majors to Kaleb Dizon and T.J. Fujimura as part of a 150-yard day. Hunt also rushed 30 yards for a touchdown.
Finn Uquart, Jack Lauren and Tait Carracco also shone on defence for the winners.
“It’s a very good start to the season and we’re looking for more good things to come,” Deugau added.
Grizzlies head coach Laurie Smith applauded Holy Cross’ effort.
“The Crusaders played a good physical game and earned a hard-fought victory,” Smith said.
The Grizzlies were led on offense by the running duo of Jaiden Claassen and Andrew Locke, with 68 and 56 yards respectively. Claassen scored the Grizzlies’ lone touchdown on a four-yard plunge in the first half. The Grizzlies leading receiver was Michael Hopwood with four catches for 37 yards.
On defence, the pair also dominated.
Locke had eight tackles and Claassen seven with an interception.
Defensive tackle Aiden Shardlow had two tackles and a fumble recovery while safety Colby Bessette had four tackles.
The Crusaders continue their non-conference schedule Friday at Pitt Meadows, while G.W, Graham plays host to the Prince George Polars on Saturday.
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