BC semi-finals AAA game PREVIEW: 4 #CFC50 teams go head to head

Another weekend, another round of playoff games on the West coast. With every game that’s played, the cards on the table are a bit harder to read and the opponent a bit harder to judge. Even after profiling these four teams throughout the season, we still cannot be sure of who is going to come out on top week in and week out, this weekend is no exception.

The first of our semi-final games will see the No. 18 ranked Notre Dame Jugglers go after the No. 26 ranked New Westminster Hyacks. In game two, the No. 7 ranked Terry Fox Ravens will face the No. 23 ranked South Delta Sun Devils. It’s anyone’s game!

Semi-final #1 #CFC50 No. 18 Notre Dame Jugglers vs. #CFC50 No. 26 New Westminster Hyacks

In the first AAA semi-final of the night, we find the Notre Dame Jugglers and the New Westminster Hyacks jostle in what should be a very exciting game. We will see the, potential, number one player in the province #CFC100 QB Steve Moretto, attempt to add another win and take his team to the promise land as he strokes the canvas to create football mastery, go up against the old school Hyacks. Both teams are talented in their own right and both teams are determined to put their mark on this year’s season.

Head coach Farhan Lalji of the New West Hyacks stated that last week’s game brought some disappointment at the start, but then the ship righted itself in the second half and he was pleased with the end result.

“Obviously we were disappointed with how we started last week. After our first score we seemed to let down, but when our backs were against the wall down two scores in the 3rd quarter I could not have been more pleased with our willingness to fight back.”

While the Hyacks came out on top of a game that most had assumed would be a blowout against the Abbotsford Panthers, 44-35, the Jugglers had to come off a bye week and meet traditional rival, Vancouver College which they beat, 27-10. Head coach Rich Scott expressed that it wasn’t easy coming off the break and to have to go right into an intense game.

“Last week was a good step – its hard coming off a bye week to get going and be sharp, but we did better as the game progressed.”

Neither team had too many issues to address last week, but Coach Farhan did add that “at this time of year we keep preaching fundamentals” and “Since the game ended I’ve been asked about what adjustments we made at halftime because of how well we played after the break, and really it came down to emphasizing what we had been telling them all week.”

Lessons learned. The Jugglers go into this week trying to understand what the Hyacks may have up their sleeve and report that they have had a good week of practice to prepare for anything the Hyacks throw at them. Coach Scott states, “Its all about doing your job against the Wing T – Don’t get caught up in motion or miss direction.”

And there it is, the Wing-T. The Hyacks have run the Wing T for years and with success. Coach Farhan won’t be changing that anytime soon.

“Don’t change what we’ve been doing to this point. There is a reason we’re here and we don’t need to change now.” 

The Hyacks have their own offensive weapons in #CFC100 ATH Trew Dancey, Sammy Sidhu, and Lucas Sabau, who will be looking to put up points on the board.

However, while the Hyacks are confident in their own offense, they will have to stop an incredible offense on the other side of the ball, something that we are sure to see #CFC100‘s LB Connor Pattison and DE Prento Durigon lead the charge as they have been doing all season long.

“We need to contain their QB, he is a special player and is the heart and soul of their team. The offense runs through him, and when you commit so much to try to contain him it opens things up for other players, so there is a balancing act that most teams haven’t managed to do successfully yet.” says Coach Farhan.

And while the Hyacks defense are focused on stopping QB Moretto offensively, the Hyacks offense will have to locate Moretto on defense as well. “Probably the same player, depending on how much he plays on defense. Also their DT Carlo DeCoste is very good on the defensive side of the ball.” 

For either team to punch their ticket to the Championship finals, they will have to stay sharp and focus on a few objectives.

For the Jugglers, Coach Scott states that his team will need to practice patience and physicality, while Coach Farhan says, “Priority number one defensively is their QB. Offensively we need to execute at a more consistent level than when we played them the last time. We need to finish our blocks on our base run plays and let our athletes get into space” as the keys to the game. 

This game will truly be one of #CFC100 QB Moretto and the Jugglers power-read run game versus the Hyack’s Wing T. May the best run game win!

Kickoff is at 5pm, Saturday, Nov. 26th at BC Place.

(stats per 6 regular season games, courtesy of BCHSFB)

 

 

Semi-final #2 #CFC50 No. 7 Terry Fox Ravens vs. #CFC50 No. 23 South Delta Sun Devils

Well here we are again giving kudos to the energizer bunny that just won’t stop. With a record of (now) 8-0, the Ravens are proving just how dynamic they actually are. Last week, they went up against a banged up Mt. Doug team, but not an easy game nonetheless. They came out of that one the winner, 34-25, in probably their most competitive game up to this point. And that is where all the comparison stops from last week to this week.

Bring on the No. 23 ranked South Delta Sun Devils who sit at 6-2. South Delta played probably the easiest game of the quarter-final matchups last week versus the Centennial Centaurs which they won easily, 48-11. However, the Devils, residing in the AAA Western conference, go up against numerous #CFC50 teams week in and week out where in the AAA Eastern conference, there is only them, Terry Fox. Is it a trade off? These two teams have never played each so we’ll see this week exactly what we are dealing with.

Last week’s game probably amped up this week’s preparation as the deeper you go into playoff rounds, injuries, competition, exhaustion, and intensity all increase. We asked head coach Ray Moon of the Sun Devils what he would need to do to prepare for Terry Fox this week and he stressed multiple things.

“Do a total breakdown of our opponent, we have our players spend a lot more time in the film room,  get treatment for any nagging injures, have quick efficient practices, run through all the players we have in our playbooks, and mentally prepare for the next team we are going against (Motivate them).”

Snake bit by injury can be disastrous especially at this stage in the game and we saw that in last week’s, Mt. Douglas, this whole season, but both teams report that they are relatively healthy and on the upswing. It was noted in last week’s game that the Raven’s star player, #CFC100 Jeremie Kankolongo, suffered an injury in the game and had to leave midway through. But this how tough this team and kid is, “Kanks” came back into the game late in the 4th and scored a touchdown, his 4th of the game! With this leadership and drive it’s no surprise we see them advance every week.

That being said, Terry Fox doesn’t take anything for granted. Head coach Martin McDonnell says that they are “preparing as we speak by watching film and practicing hard!” 

But let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this game. Who do we have on the board that we need to consider. We, here at CFC, feel like it’s an early Christmas present because we are going to watch the best running back in the province, ‘kanks’, go up against our down and dirty LB, #CFC100 Grant McDonald of South Delta, who we just love to watch destroy people.

Coach McDonnell also states that they will have to do something about South Delta’s quarterback, Michael Calvert, hooking up with #23 Billy Matwichyna, who is the Devil’s leading receiver. They will also have to have an answer for #22 Grant McDonald who, as we have preluded, can do it all.

“Their QB #10 Calvert is very very good both as a passer and a runner. #22 McDonald is very good on both sides of the ball. They have many good players both conference and provincial all-stars. WR #23 is also very good!”

Keys to the game for Terry Fox are, “Doing the basics ie. blocking and Tacking well!” While the Sun Devils will have to “shut down their run game, and attack them with our passing game”.

Coach Moon also adds, “They are a run team we are a passing team so it going to be the old RUN vs PASS  which could end up to which defence is going to be better Terry Fox’s pass defence or South Delta’s run defence.”

We are getting shivers just thinking about it, but before one of these teams heads off to face the winner of the other semi-final game and play for championship status, they are going to have to prove themselves in this one. It’s not going to be any easy one as both teams are well aware and are preparing for lights out football. Can it get any better than this?

Kickoff is at 7:30pm, Saturday, Nov. 26th at BC Place.

 

 

PASSING	CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD	TD%	INT	INT%	SACK	YDS
	19	43	44.2	363	16.5	–	4	9.3	3	7	0	0
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG/GME	AVG/ATT	LNG	TD	FUM	LST
	215	2883	411.85	13.41	–	41	0	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG/GME	AVG/REC	LNG	TD	FUM	LST
	21	385	51.85	18.33	–	4	0	0
DEFENSIVE	TACK	SACK	FREC		INT	YDS	AVG	LNG
	347	11	8		8	45	5.63	40

(stats per 7 regular season games, courtesy of BCHSFB)

 

PASSING	CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD	TD%	INT	INT%	SACK	YDS
	91	144	63.2	1354	58.87	–	15	10.4	5	3.5	18	-51
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG/GME	AVG/ATT	LNG	TD	FUM	LST
	115	1154	192.33	10.03	–	8	1	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG/GME	AVG/REC	LNG	TD	FUM	LST
	81	1243	207.16	15.35	–	14	1	0
DEFENSIVE	TACK	SACK	FREC		INT	YDS	AVG	LNG
	362	18	1		5	67	13.4	0

(stats per 6 regular season games, courtesy of BCHSFB)

 

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