Another high school football season will be in the books with this last AAA provincial playoff game in British Columbia. #CFC50’s No. 7, the Terry Fox Ravens (9-0, 0-2)) will be battling it out with No. 14, the Notre Dame Jugglers (7-1, 2-1) in a game where we’ll see the two most dynamic players face off in this last showdown of the year. Both teams will look to ground and pound on offense and, defensively, it will be ‘try and stop Kanks’ vs. ‘try and stop Moretto’. Because we know you can’t’ stop either of them, it will come down to one or two defining plays that could be the highlight of the season for either team.
Let’s look at the tape: Terry Fox finished the season with 363 passing yards, 19 completions on 43 attempts, with 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. They rushed for 2883 yards on 215 attempts and 41 rushing touchdowns. Defensively, the Ravens are no less impressive with 347 total tackles, 11 sacks, 8 fumble for recovery, 8 interceptions, and 1 defensive touchdown. The Jugglers will have their work cut out for them.
On Notre Dame’s side, they finished the regular season with 597 passing yards, 30 completions on 54 attempts, 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. They rushed for 1458 yards on 195 attempts and 14 rushing touchdowns. Defensively, they register 256 total tackles, 13 sacks, 3 fumble for recovery, and 9 interceptions.
“It’s gonna be a great game on saturday that’s going to come down to a select few plays. Whoever is able to execute a key play in a clutch situation is going to win this football game” replied Notre Dame’s, #CFC100 QB, Steve Moretto, when asked what his thoughts were of the game this weekend.
Last weekend, Notre Dame came out the winner in a squeaker that saw them play their divisional rival, the New Westminster Hyacks, 20-14. They stuffed the Hyacks on their first possession forcing the Hyacks to punt at which point they blocked the punt giving them a short field and then drove down the field scoring on that first possession. Head Coach Rich Scott stated that they needed to get out in front first and stop any momentum that the Hyacks may have had.
“Hard fought, divisional rival – we started strong on defence, block a punt, and get out in front which we needed to do – the key was to try and not allow any momentum to be gained by their kids like they did against Abbotsford. And the best thing for us was to answer right after they ran the ball right up the middle for a TD.”
#2 Jeremie Kankolongo
That strategy may be exactly what the Jugglers try to do going into this weekend’s final game as they will have to crush any momentum that the Ravens bring with their star player, #CFC100 RB Jeremie “Kanks” Kankolongo (#2). Kanks scored 2 touchdowns in the semi-final game against South Delta last weekend.
“Terry fox is a very good team. Obviously lead by the MVP of the league in kankolongo, they are going to be a tough team to beat. He’s a great athlete and a great football player and it’s gonna be our job to limit his big plays. We have had a great week of practice and it’s gonna be a fun game to be apart of Saturday. Hopefully we can come out on the winning side of this battle.” said Moretto.
While the Jugglers recognize that the Ravens have a “stud” running back in Kanks, they are not going to go into this one solely focused on him. “While their RB is a stud, they are not just a one trick pony. They are a team that adapts well around #2 and that was clear against South Delta” says Coach Scott. Notre Dame will also have to account for Jaden Shanley, Zander Bailey, Andy Hanlen, and Matt Shuen who have all been having a great season with the Ravens.
When we asked what the Raven’s thoughts were from last week’s game, we were surprised to hear that the flu bug had hit the team and not everyone was 100%. Head Coach Martin McDonnell of Terry Fox said that the “Kids hung in there..we were fighting a massive flu bug and didn’t have everyone at 100% Even kanks who was still hurting from last week was not himself.”
If that is what an unhealthy team looks like, look out Jugglers. But the Ravens aren’t taking anything for granted from a team that is hot and rolling right now. Coach McDonnell recognizes that they are a very good team and will have to contain #CFC100 QB Steven Moretto, something that all other teams have struggled doing this season. He says of the Jugglers,
“Very good team…Especially talented Moretto. Playing very well and are really well coached. We will have our hands full”.
In order to prepare for this “very good team”, the Ravens will be watching film and focus on getting as healthy as possible. They will have to look to shut down Moretto and execute their offense better than they did last weekend.
“Somehow limit the big plays of Moretto and run the ball a lot better than we could this week. Getting our players back on the field.” says Coach McDonnell of what they will need to do in order to have a chance at being the 2016 provincial champions.
Coach Scott will “try and keep the emotions in check – all week”. This will be important as it will take every ounce of talent, preparation and determination to beat the No. 7 nationally ranked team in the county. The Jugglers will have to be present in all three phases of the game and will look to “run the ball, stop the run, limit turnovers”.
Either of these teams could be walking out with the hardware on Saturday evening. It is fitting that the very last high school game in the country is being played by these two perennial powerhouses and #CFC50 ranked teams. We couldn’t have asked for a better finale. Good luck to both teams!
Kickoff is at 7:00pm, Saturday, Dec. 3 at BC Place.
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