ABBOTSFORD: Ercy Avul has some pretty amazing football bloodlines, yet ask the W.J. Mouat Hawks’ senior receiver/safety about his uncles Boseko and Nelson Lokombo, and it’s as much or more what they have given him in terms of off-field advice than between the lines.
“Nelson had to go through high school always being known as Bo’s younger brother, and that is kind of how I felt being Nelson’s nephew,” begins Avul, selected this week as Varsity Letter’s B.C. High School Football Player of the Week after making eight catches for 198 yards and a touchdown in the Hawks’ thrilling 35-34 overtime win last Friday over the Mission Roadrunners.
“So I have really felt like Nelson has taught me to be my own person,” he continued of his younger uncle, a 2017 Mouat grad who this past May was the No. 2 overall pick in the CFL Draft by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“Bo has helped me so much as well on the football side,” continued Avul of the elder Lokombo, a record-setting former Mouat running back, standout linebacker with the Oregon Ducks, and now playing the same role for the B.C. Lions. “Both of them have just bee a big help in my life.”
Ask Mouat head coach Andrew Harder about the evolution of Avul, and he points to a player just now, in his senior year, coming into his true comfort zone after a junior high growth spurt and 2020’s cancelled season.
“He was good, but you can see now that he is going to be an all-province type of kid,” said Harder of a 6-foot-2, 170-pound prospect who is starting to become more identifiable to B.C.’s two university programs and others across the country. “You can see it coming because he had that growth spurt and that his body was just growing.”
And although the Bros. Lokombo have helped him with much more than just football, there is no denying the impact having two uncles with that much skill and experience can offer, especially when you spend the summer working out with them at Mouat.
“That has been huge for him,” agrees Harder, whose charges continue to dip their toes in the AAA East conference waters this Friday (3:30 p.m.) when they visit a young Abbotsford Panthers squad. “It’s helped Ercy develop a ton. He grew so quickly in Grades 9 and 10 to the point where he didn’t really have his feet under him. He was like a big puppy at that point. Now, he’s ready to take some big strides.”
NOTE — 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 week, so please consider each an official Varsity Letters’ B.C. High School Player of the Week.
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