The South Delta Sun Devils will get to experience a Lower Mainland version of Friday Night Lights when they continue their preseason high school football schedule today in the Royal City.
The Sun Devils visit the New West Hyacks where they not only expect a stern test from the higher tiered "AAA" squad but be playing in somewhat of a hostile at a renovated Mercer Stadium on what should be a glorious late summer evening.
"We've told the kids they need to be prepared for it," said South Delta head coach Ray Moon. "This is a big deal being their home opener and I would be surprised to see a huge crowd out for the game with plenty of name calling coming our way. It's as close to a Friday Night Lights experience as we are going to get."
It will also be a stark contrast to last week's tranquil setting in Kamloops, of all places, where the Devils kicked off the 2011 season with a 30-0 victory over the Duchess Park Condors. The game capped a two-day mini-camp with the Prince George school that arrived in the Interior city with just 18 players.
"They had seven or eight kids who couldn't commit to the trip so they ended up with a very thin squad and the game was called after three quarters," added Moon. "We at least got an opportunity to get into more of a rhythm on offence. Now we're going to get a lot better idea of what being really challenged is."
