COQUITLAM — When Ziad Sabry runs onto the field at Chilliwack’s Exhibition Stadium this Friday for a tough AAA East clash against the host G.W. Graham Grizzlies, he’ll no doubt smile to himself, so glad that two years ago, he decided to take endure the path less taken.
Last week, in fact, almost two full years after tearing an ACL during his then-Grade 10 season with the Centennial Centaurs, Sabry, a 6-foot, 190-pound running back/safety continued his remarkable rise back, feeling as he puts it “better and stronger than before,” after putting up the kinds of numbers in a 49-8 win over Abbotsford which make earn him Varsity Letters’ B.C. High School Football Player of the Week honours.
Sabry rushed three times for 112 yards and three touchdowns (26, 28 and 58 yards), while also returning one of his two interceptions 40 yards for another major score. He also added a tackle and a pass break-up.
For the 17-year-old Sabry, it was an emotional day, one which he said Tuesday was a self-verification of decision to stay the path through not only the first early weeks of post-surgery rehab, but through the challenges of the pandemic over the course of the cancelled 2020 season.
“At first I wanted nothing to do with football, I was really down after blowing my knee out,” said Sabry. “But once I got into rehab and into the every day rhythm of ‘I am going to do this,’, then finally getting weight on the bar, and being able to go out and run, it all came together. Once you take the first few baby steps, it all goes smoothly.
“It was great to get a win because for our team, it’s been while at Centennial,” he added of a nine-game losing skid dating back to September of 2019. “So to do it the way we did it, it felt great.”
Sabry’s versatility is a big plus.
He not only plays at running back and safety, he can also line up as a slot receiver and at the SAM linebacker spot.
“Ziad is a young man who played with confidence and has such a strong football IQ,” offers Centaurs’ head coach Dino Geremia of the honour roll student who is hoping to play university football, and joined Varsity Letters on Wednesday to chat just moments after writing a Chem 12 test.
“I am interested in the math and sciences,” he says. “I think I’d most likely get into engineering, probably civil engineering.”
He refused to give up on football, and now, perhaps, football can be his ticket to even more challenges at the university level.
Varsity Letters had originally intended to award one offensive and one defensive B.C. High School Football Player of the Week. However due to the fact so many quality candidates were putting up numbers on both sides of the ball, we have decided to instead recognize two overall players, each an official Varsity Letters’ B.C. High School Player of the Week.
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
