“Terry Fox toughness” — and a little luck — got the Terry Fox Ravens into Saturday’s BC Secondary Schools Football Association semi-finals (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. at BC Place).
And Ravens’ head coach Martin McDonnell is hoping the same formula will propel his charges past the undefeated St. Thomas More Knights and a chance to defend their BC Subway Bowl championship.
That the Ravens are still in the mix to get that chance is a testimony to their toughness and pride, McDonnell said after his squad defeated Seaquam 28-21 in last Saturday’s quarterfinal at BC Place.
“They get to keep playing,” he said, despite a lineup built largely on Grade 11 and Junior Varsity players stepping into roles sooner than expected because of graduations from last year’s championship team and a seemingly endless series of injuries.
They also get a chance to avenge a 15-8 loss earlier in the season to the Knights, when the Ravens were ranked atop the provincial polls and STM was still looking for recognition despite a defence that hadn’t allowed a single score up to that point.
Since then the teams have been on seemingly opposite trajectories. Terry Fox lost a key game to Lord Tweedsmuir and slipped as far as seventh in the polls heading into the post season while the Knights kept on winning and only a powerful New Westminster Hyacks team has kept them from claiming a spot atop the polls.
But, McDonnell said, appearances can be deceiving because the two teams are very much alike. Neither team has a bonafide go-too superstar and both have had to overcome injuries to blue-chippers.
The Ravens lost quarterback Jevaun Jacobsen and running back Jaden Severy, as well as 6’2” lineman Adam Tennet, at various stages late in the season, and all three are still hobbled to some extent.
The Knights have been without their star running back Tyler Eckert for three games because of an illness. They also lost their longtime coach, Bernie Kully, who passed away from esophageal cancer on Sept. 30.
The emotion of Kully’s passing has been a driving force behind the Knights’ success, McDonnell said. His Ravens just want to prove they belong.
“I think a lot of people were discounting us,” McDonnell said. “Some of the kids were disappointed by that, and now they’re saying, hey, we’re still playing. They really want to be in the final again.”
The Ravens took another step toward that goal with their comeback win over Seaquam.
Three times Terry Fox held the lead before a touchdown run by Seaquam’s Jalen Philpot late in the third quarter, followed by a successful kick for the convert, put the Seahawks in front for the first time in the game, 21-20.
The fourth quarter resembled a game of hot potato more than football, as each team squandered scoring drives because of penalties or turnovers.
But with just under two minutes left on the clock and Seaquam poised to punt the ball from midfield, deep into Ravens’ territory to protect their narrow advantage, the snap to kicker Xavier Cole sailed past him. Oscar Nunez scooped the bouncing ball up for the Ravens and ran it into the end zone. Liam Cumarasamy then drove the ball into the end zone again for the two-point conversion to give Terry Fox its win.
“The football gods smiled on us a bit,” McDonnell said of the game’s late turnover of events. “But you’ve still got to scoop it up and score.”
And his players will have to maintain that belief in themselves against the Knights, McDonnell said.
“They know it takes toughness to get this far,” he said. “There’s going to have to be a total team effort to keep going.”
• Terry Fox have placed three players on the BCSSFA all-star teams, and quarterback Jevaun Jacobsen is being recognized as the province’s top Grade 11 player. Offensive lineman Matthew Baddege is the Ravens’ sole representative on the offensive team, while defensive lineman Michael Evans and linebacker Mason Reeves are on the defensive team.
