The South Delta Sun Devils and Seaquam Seahawks will be limping into their annual rivalry high school football tilt on Friday night at John Oliver Park.
Dubbed as the “Delta Championship Game” between the Western Conference AAA teams, Mayor George Harvie will be in attendance for the ceremonial coin toss prior to the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
The Seahawks (0-4) are coming off an unexpected break after forfeiting their game last week against the New West Hyacks due to a lack of players. Their opponent has also been hit hard by the injury bug, but did find a way to crack the win column for the first time this season.
Declan Dunn hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Kenny Scott and that’s all the points the Sun Devils would need in a 13-0 road win over the St. Thomas More Knights, to improve to 1-3 in conference play.
Trent Clisby led a stellar defensive effort with an interception, a pair of quarterback sacks and eight tackles. Matt McPhie added a fumble recovery, a sack and six tackles before leaving the game with a thigh injury. Middle linebacker Josh Cloete had seven tackles and Ben Holmes six.
South Delta’s injury woes continued on their offensive line with Grade 11 centre Lucas Bates sidelined with an ankle injury. Three weeks ago Grade 12s Jack Morgenthaler and Nate Guppy were lost to season-ending injuries against Belmont. Ty Brooks then broke his ankle playing volleyball.
The revamped line includes Cloete moving from running back to tackle and the coaching staff leaning heavily on call-ups from the junior varsity team.
“They have been doing a great job for us and we also have been slowly working in a couple of other guys who didn’t have a lot of experience at the start of the season,” said Sun Devils head coach Ray Moon, who added receiver Justin Zabudsky is also out for the balance of the year with a knee injury.
A win tomorrow will lock-up a provincial playoff spot for South Delta.
