With a healthy contingent of Tri-City players, the Simon Fraser Clan are set to tackle the competition - literally - this university football season.
Sophomore linebacker Casey Chin of Port Moody is eager to bang heads again in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, where he led the NCAA Div. 2 schools last season with 74 tackles for an average of 8.2 per game, just ahead of teammate Kyle Miller with 73 total for 8.1 per outing.
"I finished just ahead of Kyle and there's definitely some friendly competition there," Chin said. "Having said that, we want to win. Not only are we representing a great university but we are really representing a country.
"This is Canada and we are the only Canadian team to play in the NCAA. We're proud of that."
The Clan was set to kick-off their campaign yesterday (Thursday, after The Tri-City News' deadline) in Forest Grove, Ore., against the Pacific University Boxers, whom they made history against last year by recording their first ever NCAA victory.
This marks SFU's first season as a full-fledged member of the NCAA and the Clan welcomes former Centennial Centaurs' high school standout Lemar Durant to the fold.
The receiver from Coquitlam returns to the Lower Mainland after starting his NCAA career in the Div. 1 ranks with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels, with whom a knee injury hampered his freshman season and he eventually caught on with the Clan.
Bobby Pospischil will help give SFU a one-two Coquitlam receiving punch as the ex-Centaur led the Clan as a freshman last season with 45 receptions for an 32.2 yards per game average while being the favourite target of Seattle-bred quarterback Trey Wheeler.
Head coach Dave Johnson is back for his sixth season with the Clan.
"[Last season] we were the team that was committed to playing four quarters and playing together and overcoming adversity," Johnson said. "If we get those pillars built and our team is built on those principles, good things will happen."
