Rylan Smaaslet tallied his second touchdown of the day Sunday when it mattered most.
Smaaslet scored on a reverse in overtime to even the score, then Arjay Shelley booted the deciding two-point convert, as the Coquitlam Raiders won a 28-26 thriller over the North Surrey Eagles in a Vancouver Mainland Football League quarter-final Jr. Bantam playoff game at Kevin Chin Field.
In another do-or-die Jr. Bantam battle, the Coquitlam Vikings fell 24-8 to the South Delta Rams.
The Raiders jumped to a 6-0 lead on 10-yard Bowen Goldade run, then went up 12-0 shortly after on a Dillon Cusker four-yard scoring dash up the gut.
The Eagles stormed back and took a 20-12 lead with fewer than three minutes remaining in regulation time, but Smaaslet darted 15 yards to paydirt and Shelley hit the clutch convert with just over one minute left to knot the score and force overtime.
COUGS CLOBBER LEOS
Coquitlam Cougars' Jarrod Hills recovered a fumble on the game's opening kick to spark his squad to a 40-0 romp over the Burnaby Lions in a Peewee division showdown and enter playoffs on a high note Sunday at Kevin Chin Field.
In another Peewee game, the Westside Warriors clipped the Coquitlam Wildcats, 15-6.
Cougar running majors were scored by Mitch Bye (30 yards), Tyrese Reed (20) and Cedric Ducharme (40), with quarterback Jack Varney and Oscar Herrera-Nunez adding touchdowns of their own.
TIGERS TRICK RAMS
The underdog Coquitlam Tigers overcame a 13-8 halftime deficit to dispose of the playoff-bound South Delta Rams 16-13 in an Atom division encounter Sunday in Tsawwassen. Ethan Shuen, on a quarterback option toss, scored what proved the deciding major, while QB Stuart Phillips scored the other TD on a 57-yard sprint for the Tigers, who entered the game already out of the post-season hunt.
