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UPDATED: South Delta Sun Devils drop semifinal heartbreaker

A furious comeback ended in heartbreak again for the South Delta Sun Devils Saturday night at B.C. Place Stadium.
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South Delta Sun Devils quarterback Michael Calvert scrambles out of a tackle for a long gain in the AAA football semifinal Saturday night at BC Place. The Sun Devils dropped a thrilling 52-45 decision to the New West Hyacks.

A furious comeback ended in heartbreak again for the South Delta Sun Devils Saturday night at B.C. Place Stadium.

For the second straight year, South Delta saw their AAA football season come to a close in the semifinals as they dropped a 52-45 decision to the New Westminster Hyacks.

Last year the Sun Devils lost 22-21 to eventual champion Terry Fox.

This year the defences took a back seat to the offences as both teams piled up the yards on the ground and in the air.

South Delta opened the scoring on its second drive as quarterback Michael Calvert was preparing to punt on fourth down when a huge hole opened up along the defensive line and Calvert sprinted 54 yards untouched into the end zone. Calvert ran in for two and it was 8-0 Sun Devils.

New West tied the score on its next drive, but back came the Sun Devils as Calvert hit receiver Doug Jameson for a 65-yard catch and run. Running back Andrew Kraft punched in the two-pointer and it was 16-8.

The Sun Devils trailed 32-16 at the half and 44-30 at the end of the third, but South Delta reeled off 15 unanswered points to take a 45-44 lead with 4:27 to go in the game.

But New West would not be denied on its next drive as Sebastien Reid romped 40 yards down the sidelines to put the Hyacks ahead for good.

South Delta tried to mount a last-minute drive to tie the game, but turned the ball over on downs with 51 seconds left on the clock.

“We were down going into the second half and we were just hoping we could boost the kids back up,” said head coach Ray Moon. “We changed our defence around and we basically had a heart-to-heart with them and the kids came out flying. We knew it was going to be a slug-fest, which doesn’t say too much for the defences when you have a 52-45 game, but the kids deserve all the kudos. They worked their butts off and left everything on the field.”

Following an interception from Jacob Kirk, his second in as many weeks, and the go-ahead 35-yard touchdown catch from Ben McDonald, Moon said he felt optimistic that the Sun Devils would hang on.

“We knew our defence was being challenged on every series because we were having so many problems stopping them, we changed schemes, but they adjusted well too. We were hoping to make a few more stops, but it just didn’t happen,” he said.

“We fought in one of the hardest conferences and the kids were there every day, every practice working their butts off. This loss is disappointing, but I’m proud of the program and happy to be a part of it.”

Terry Fox will be the Hyacks’ opponent in Saturday’s AAA final as the Ravens knocked off St. Thomas More 27-21 in the other semifinal.