LANGLEY — Week 1 in the B.C. high school football world was filled with highlighted performances on both side of the ball.
There were so many, in fact, that while we will try to give you a Top 10, the quality extends deep down into the honourable-mention performances and there were so many more we didn’t even include.
1 GRAEME GODARD
Lord Tweedsmuir’s senior linebacker was at his best as Surrey’s AAA No. 1 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers headed south to Washington, and beat Burlington-Edison 14-o behind an amazing 20-tackle performance which included a sack. Godard also scored a 40-yard touchdown via a fumble recovery just before halftime.
2 GIDEONE KREMLER
Starting the season with a Western Conference AAA home opener against the No. 5 South Delta Sun Devils is no easy task. Yet the senior quarterback for the No. 4-ranked Mt. Douglas Rams answered the bell in his host team’s 40-14 win Friday in the provincial capital. Kremler not only threw for three TDs, including an 82-yard strike to Sam Mosky, he also threw a trio of two-point convert passes.
3 KEELAN WHITE
The Handsworth Royals senior star picked up right where he left off last season. White totalled 189 yards in receptions, scoring three touchdowns in the process as part of a 32-14 Western Conference AAA win Friday at Belmont. He also rushed for 85 yards, threw a 26-yard pass and contributed eight tackles.
4 NATHEN HAUSERMANN
Led the B.C. senior varsity ranks along the ground in Week 1, turning 17 carries into 273 yards of rushing and a touchdown as Abbotsford’s W.J. Mouat Hawks opened Pacific Conference AAA play Friday with a 41-6 win over Surrey’s visiting Earl Marriott Mariners.
5 DARIO CICCONE
Pretty tough to be any more effective than the St. Thomas More Knights’ quarterback was Friday in a decisive 35-0 shutout of rival Notre Dame at Burnaby Lakes. Ciccone was 7-of-10 for 240 yards and three touchdowns.
6 ROBERT MENDEZ
The Irish’s senior defensive lineman helped his team pitch a shutout on defence, as Vancouver College hit the road and fashioned a hard-nosed 28-0 shutout of the host Seaquam Seahawks on Saturday in North Delta. Mendez led the defence with 14 tackles.
7 LOGAN MCDONALD
In a 40-18 win Friday on the road at Vernon’s Clarence Fulton Secondary, the starting quarterback for Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves went 12-of-16 for 244 and four touchdowns.
8 YOSEF DRYSDALE
The senior running back/defensive back with Surrey’s AAA No. 1-ranked Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers helped his team to a 14-0 win over stateside on Friday night Burlington-Edison by catching a 40-yard touchdown pass, and adding two interceptions and four tackles on the other side of the ball.
9 EVAN NOLLI
A stalwart on both sides of the line, the Hyacks’ senior was hard to miss in AAA No. 3-ranked New Westminster’s 36-14 home field conference win over the Carson Graham Eagles on Friday. Nolli had nine tackles and a sack for the winners.
10 RYAN JENSEN
The Handsworth Royals quarterback hit the ground throwing. Jensen, in leading his North Vancouver team to a 32-14 AAA West league win Friday at Victoria’s Belmont Secondary, threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns.
BEST OF THE REST (in alphabetical order)
CADE COTE
He rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns in AAA No. 2 Terry Fox’s 35-7 win over the host Abbotsford Panthers on Friday.
JOSH JANSSEN
The Grade 11 quarterback, in the first game of Sardis Secondary’s football program renaissance, threw five touchdown passes in a 42-0 win over Surrey’s visiting Sullivan Heights Stars in Chilliwack.
KORI JOHNSON
In a tight, low-scoring game, the Langley Saints’ running back rushed 17 times for 107 yards and his team’s lone major in a 7-6 win over Mission on Friday.
SILAS MARCHAN
Beside helping lead the ground game from his spot in the offensive backfield, the Holy Cross Crusaders standout shone on defence, picking off three passes as the unranked Surrey hosts opened their 2018 campaign with a 22-6 win over No. 4 G.W. Graham of Chilliwack.
EBIYE OKOKO-CHOMSENG
In a 41-6 season-opening conference win, Okoko-Chomseng rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns as the host W.J. Mouat Hawks defeated Surrey’s Earl Marriott Mariners in Abbotsford on Friday.
JADEN SEVERY
The other half of the Ravens’ vaunted ground game Friday, he rushed for 128 yards and two scores in a 35-7 non-conference win over the host Abbotsford Panthers.
MICHAEL SIMONE
The STM Knights’ receiver caught three passes for 120 yards in Friday’s 35-0 shutout of Notre Dame, and all three receptions went for touchdowns.
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