South Delta Sun Devils will find next year what a difference 25 student athletes can make.
After winning a provincial football title in 2012 and challenging for another this past season, the Sun Devils are headed to the elite 3A level in 2014. They are one of nine schools impacted by the B.C. High School Football Association's decision back in January to lower the enrollment threshold between 2A and 3A programs from 300 to 275 student athletes. The Seaquam Seahawks and provincial finalists Handsworth Royals are also headed to the higher tier.
"We're going to get ready and see what we can do," said South Delta head would have won B.C. 2A titles but Higgins' belief during his tenure was to only compete against the very best.
That changed soon after Moon took over as the limited success was hurting the program's recruiting efforts.
"It was important at the time the kids had a realistic chance at winning a championship," Moon recalled. The Devils should more than hold their own next season thanks to an excellent Grade 11 group that coach Ray Moon whose players will begin off-season training in February. "It's definitely going to be interesting."
The Sun Devils went 1-2 against 3A competition this season, falling to the top five ranked Mt Doug Rams and New West Hyacks, while defeating the Kelowna Owls. The New West game went right down to the wire while the Sun Devils did have some success moving the ball against the eventual champion and undefeated Rams.
Under previous head coach Brian Higgins, the Devils competed at the 3A level even though they were eligible to play at 2A. Led by quarterbacks Andrew Rogers and Derek Mann respectively, the 2000 and 2004 teams reached the provincial semi-finals. The consensus was both squads includes a pair named to the provincial all-star team - quarterback Lucas Kirk and receiver Jack McDonald. It's beyond 2014 that Moon is unsure about.
"We are concerned just about the number of players we're going to have (each year)," he said. "We just don't have the kind of depth that some of the bigger traditional football schools have. We also have a different set-up where we don't have Grade 8 or junior varsity teams and instead rely on the community program. The learning curve can be pretty step for some guys and the challenge is going to be even greater."
End Zone...
Joining Kirk and McDonald on the provincial all-star team is Grade 12 defensive back Mark Dykstra.
