The curtain came up on a new era for the South Delta Sun Devils last Thursday with a familiar name taking centre stage.
Starting quarterback Ben McDonald would like nothing more than to see the Sun Devils junior varsity team have a successful inaugural season. It might just get his older brothers off his back.
“They are always giving me a hard time about not winning,” laughed McDonald. “My whole life I have been throwing the ball to them. I have always been playing at a higher speed because of them. It definitely has helped.”
The Grade 10 standout is the last of three brothers that have been a huge part of Sun Devils football for the past five years.
Ben was in Grade 7 when he watched South Delta win the provincial “AAA” championship at B.C. Place Stadium back in 2014. Jack McDonald was named the game MVP. Grant McDonald also had a major role with a pair of touchdowns. The boys’ father — Bruce McDonald — remains a big part of the South Delta coaching staff.
Jack is now a third-year slotback with the University of Calgary Dinosaurs, while Grant is in his freshman season as a tight end at the University of Maine. Now it’s Ben’s turn to make a name for himself with the Sun Devils.
He did just that in the varsity team’s crazy 85-70 loss to Squalicum in Bellingham back on Sept. 8.
Coming off the bench when two starting receivers were injured, McDonald showed his versatility by hauling in seven passes for 242-yards. He also returned a kickoff 100-yards for another score and had a team-high 10 tackles from his regular position at safety.
He came away from the game with a tender back but it didn’t prevent him from making the start at quarterback in the JV Devils’ 50-43 loss to Seaquam, despite limited mobility.
“We are using Ben at slot, running back, tight end and, of course free safety. With the JVs, he’s our starting quarterback,” said Sun Devils head coach Ray Moon. “He is an important part of our senior team too, especially on defence.”
A year ago, McDonald was also seeing playing time with the seniors while leading the South Delta Bantam Rams across the street at Dennison Park. Now that the JV program has taken the Bantams’ place, life has become a whole lot easier.
“Last year it was Tuesdays. Thursdays and Sundays over there,” he continued. “Now it’s joint practices and I just take my reps with both teams. (Laughing) I’m actually able to finish my homework at night time.”
Despite coming up short on the scoreboard, the JV opener was a terrific day for the school and the Sun Devils program.
A big crowd took in the action and the game day presentation was identical to what the seniors typically have.
“We are excited. That was a great atmosphere. The community itself has really embraced the idea,” said Moon. “A lot of the credit goes over to the Rams. They realized the situation that was happening in community football (with fewer Bantam teams) and they invited us along. They have been very supportive and helped us here and there with things like equipment.”
The additional team is providing even more exposure to the program, especially by playing games right after school. The Sun Devils know it’s going to take attracting other student athletes to play football to remain competitive at the elite “AAA” level long term.
“We have four guys who joined this past week — two JVs and two varsity — including a standout basketball player,” continued Moon. “We also had a couple of Grade 8s who said they wanted to play and we sent them over to the Rams program. We got kids coming up to us all the time and we can keep taking players for the JV team right up until mid-October.
“It was a great beginning for the team and a history-making day for our program.”
