After two losses in a row and a 1-3 record, Centennial Centaurs coach Ryk Piche could be forgiven if he was feeling a little glum about his team's playoff chances.
The injury-ravaged club is last in the AAA high school football Eastern Conference standings and have struggled to put up points in its last two outings.
But the coach said on Tuesday that he and his players are far from giving up.
"I'm very confident," he told The Tri-City News. "That may sound crazy for a team that has one regular season win."
The team has struggled with injuries and Piche was able to field his full compliment of starters for the first time last Friday when the club lost to St. Thomas More.
Having not played together for most of the season, he said his players lacked cohesion and struggled to maintain the lead after jumping out to a 6-0 start.
In the second half, the wheels fell off, and several missed assignments on the Centaurs' defence allowed St. Thomas More to get back in the game.
The mistakes ended up costing Centennial the game, with the team eventually losing 46-0.
"I have never seen anything like that," he said. "It turned in such a dramatic manner. It was a good football game for the first half."
Piche said his team will go back to the drawing board for next weekend's tilt against W.J. Mouat (3-1-0) before the final game of the season against cross-town rivals the Terry Fox Ravens (2-2-0).
The Ravens are also struggling to put points on the board, having lost to Mouat 33-13 on Friday night at Percy Perry Stadium.
Mate McLeod-Genest had 15 rushes for 70 yards while quarterback Nathan Dalton was 6-for-16 passing for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw four interceptions.
The Ravens are also suffering from the injury bug, playing without the services of starting quarterback Trevor Casey, Jake Bye, Brett Boyce and Isaiah Stevens and running back Brad Lyons injured his right ankle on the second offensive play of the game.
The team was down 19-0 at the half before Dalton connected with Brian Hope for a 70 yard touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to 19-6.
Another touchdown in the second half - a 19-yard-play to Mike West- was not enough to spark the team's offense.
Terry Fox plays Vancouver College (3-1-0) next week on the road.
