LANGLEY — It feels like it just started, but B.C. high school football’s regular season reaches its midway mark this weekend.
Finally, all divisions of both tiers will be fully engaged in conference games and that makes every contest a big one.
Our weekly survival guide includes Varsity Letters’ Big 5 AAA and AA rankings; the Top 5 Games to Watch; the full weekend schedule broken down by tier and conference; last week’s complete scoreboard.
VARSITY LETTERS’ BIG 5 RANKINGS
TRIPLE A
1 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers (Surrey) (3-1, 2-0) (LW-1)
LW — Def. Terry Fox 20-14.
TW — Friday host St. Thomas More.
2 Terry Fox Ravens (Port Coquitlam) (4-1, 1-1) (2)
LW — Lost 20-14 to Lord Tweedsmuir.
TW — Friday host Mission.
3 New Westminster Hyacks (4-1, 3-0) (3)
LW — Def. South Delta 20-6.
TW — Friday at Notre Dame.
4 St. Thomas More Knights (Burnaby) (4-0, 2-0) (4)
LW — Def. Centennial 35-12.
TW — Friday at Lord Tweedsmuir.
5. Vancouver College Fighting Irish (5-0, 4-0) (5)
LW — Def. Mt. Douglas 55-26.
TW — Saturday host South Delta.
HM Notre Dame Jugglers (Vancouver) (3-1, 3-0) (HM)
LW — Def. Belmont 15-0 (forfeit)
TW — Friday host New Westminster.
HM Mt. Douglas Rams (Victoria) (2-2, 2-2) (HM)
LW — Lost 55-26 to Vancouver College.
TW — Friday at Belmont.
HM South Delta Sun Devils (1-2, 1-2) (HM)
LW — Lost 20-6 to New Westminster.
TW — Saturday at Vancouver College.
DOUBLE A
1 Vernon Panthers (3-1, 0-0) (LW-1)
LW — Def. Foothills Composite (Okotoks, Alta.) 27-0
TW — Do not play
2 Ballenas Whalers (4-0, 0-0) (2)
LW — Def. Holy Cross 27-0.
TW —Friday open Western Conference play at John Barsby.
3 John Barsby Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0) (3)
LW — Def. Robert Bateman 25-9.
TW — Friday host Ballenas.
4 Holy Cross Crusaders (2-1, 0-1) (4)
LW — Lost to Ballenas 27-0.
TW — Friday at Argyle.
5 Samuel Robertson Titans (2-1, 1-0) (5)
LW — Did not play.
TW — Friday host Langley.
HM Windsor Dukes (2-0, 1-0) (HM)
LW — Did not play.
TW — Do not play.
HM G.W. Graham Grizzlies (Chilliwack) (2-3, 0-0) (HM)
LW — Defeated Westsyde 15-0 (forfeit).
TW — Friday host Frank Hurt to open Eastern Conference play.
HM South Kamloops Titans (2-1, 0-0) (HM)
LW —Did not play.
TW — Open Interior Conference play Friday at Clarence Fulton.
Here’s our take on the top five games to take in this weekend over Week 3 of the B.C. High School Football campaign.
1 AAA No. 4 St. Thomas More at No. 1 Lord Tweedsmuir (Friday, 1 p.m.)
The skinny — STM’s defence has been air-tight over the first month of the season, but its trip to Cloverdale to face the No. 1 Panthers will be a whole new level of competition. From beating No. 2 Terry Fox to hosting the No. 4 Knights in the span of one week? If LT remains unscathed, they truly become Subway Bowl 2018 frontrunners.
2 AAA No. 3 New Westminster at Notre Dame (Friday, 7:30 p.m.)
The skinny — Both teams enter play with 3-0 records in the West. The defending B.C. champ Hyacks are winning games at a pace unprecedented in its program’s history while the Jugglers have worked back to a level of consistency following a surprising 35-0 non-conference blanking at the hands of STM to start the season.
3 AA No. 2 Ballenas at No. 3 John Barsby (Friday, 6 p.m.)
The skinny — Parksville travels to Nanaimo for the aptly-titled annual clash known as the Border Battle. Cam Wright’s play at quarterback has made the host Bulldogs formidable, yet Ballenas has demonstrated, behind the play of QB Ben Chomolok, that it has one of its strongest groups in years.
4 AAA South Delta at No. 5 Vancouver College (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.)
The skinny — The Sun Devils head to O’Hagan hoping starting quarterback Ben McDonald will be healthy enough to play. South Delta, with an unfamiliar 1-2 Western Conference mark, reaches a tipping point in its season against a ravenous 4-0 Fighting Irish squad. South Delta’s schedule is somewhat less forgiving after this one, but the road underdogs would be doing themselves a huge favour with a victory here.
5 AA Langley at No. 5 Samuel Robertson (Friday, 6:45 p.m.)
The skinny — The unranked Saints have represented especially well as the season has progressed, wracking up an impressive 7-6 victory of AAA Mission (2-0) and last week 42-7 over Clarence Fulton. The Titans are also coming into their own, and the bye week along with home field could make all the difference.
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
DOUBLE A
NORTHERN CONFERENCE
6 p.m. — Prince George at College Heights
8:30 p.m. — D.P. Todd at Kelly Road
FRIDAY
TRIPLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
2 p.m. — Belmont at Mt. Douglas
7:30 p.m. — New Westminster at Notre Dame
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1 p.m. — St. Thomas More at Lord Tweedsmuir
4 p.m. — Kelowna at Centennial
6 p.m. — Abbotsford at Mt. Boucherie
7 p.m. — Mission at Terry Fox
PACIFIC CONFERENCE
2:30 p.m. — Nanaimo District at Spectrum
3 p.m. — West Vancouver at Earl Marriott
4 p.m. — Rutland at Sardis
7 p.m. — Sullivan Heights at W.J. Mouat
DOUBLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
3 p.m. — Holy Cross at Argyle
EASTERN CONFERENCE
6 p.m. — Ballenas at John Barsby
6:45 p.m. — Langley at Samuel Robertson
7:30 p.m. — Frank Hurt at G.W. Graham
INTERIOR CONFERENCE
3 p.m. — Valleyview at Westsyde
7:30 p.m. — South Kamloops at Clarence Fulton
SATURDAY
TRIPLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1 p.m. — Carson Graham at Seaquam
1:30 p.m. — South Delta at Vancouver College
LAST WEEK
SCOREBOARD
FRIDAY, SEPT. 28
TRIPLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Notre Dame 15 Belmont 0
Vancouver College 55 Mt. Douglas 26
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Abbotsford 29 Kelowna 10
St. Thomas More 35 Centennial 12
Lord Tweedsmuir 20 Terry Fox 14
Mission 42 Mt. Boucherie 8
PACIFIC CONFERENCE
Rutland 48 Eric Hamber 8
Nanaimo District 26 West Vancouver 7
Earl Marriott 14 Sullivan Heights 0
W.J. Mouat 37 Spectrum 0
NON-CONFERENCE
CROSS-TIER
DOUBLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
John Barsby 25 Robert Bateman 9
Ballenas 27 Holy Cross 0
NON-CONFERENCE
Vernon 27 Foothills Composite 0
G.W. Graham 15 Westsyde 0 (forfeit)
SATURDAY, SEPT. 29
TRIPLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Carson Graham 33 Handsworth 18
New Westminster 20 South Delta 6
DOUBLE A
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Howe Sound 30 Argyle 7
NORTHERN CONFERENCE
Prince George 34 Nechako Valley 6
NON-CONFERENCE
Clarence Fulton 33 Kelly Road 7
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