The South Delta Sun Devils showcased their explosiveness on offence to crack the win column for the first time in the B.C. High School Football season.
Grade 11 quarterback Ben McDonald threw for 364-yards and three touchdowns to lead South Delta to a 34-18 win over the Carson Graham Eagles on Friday in North Vancouver. The result evened the Sun Devils’ Western Conference record at 1-1-0 and took some of the sting out of a 40-14 season-opening loss to Mt. Doug a week earlier.
McDonald connected on 30 of 50 passes that resulted in big afternoons for Grade 11 receivers Evan Paterson (nine catches, 166 yards) and Ethan Troniak (eight catches, 166 yards). Grade 12 running back Andrew Kraft was a duo threat, rushing for 54 yards and a couple of majors, while also making six receptions for another 61 yards.
“We were better but there still is a lot of work to do. This is still like exhibition season for us,” said Sun Devils head coach Ray Moon whose team had to jump right into its conference schedule. “Our offensive line still needs some work. That was all Ben and his ability to make plays.”
South Delta was coming off a tough loss in the provincial capital that saw the Rams score 22 unanswered points to break a tight game wide open.
“This is a very young team with just six Grade 12s back from last year and it showed,” continued Moon. “We made some mistakes and also got away from our playbook to try and make things happens. That won’t happen at this level.”
South Delta now enjoys a bye week before defending B.C. AAA champion New West Hyacks comes to Tsawwassen on Saturday, Sept. 29 (1:30 p.m.) in the home opener.
“I like it because it gives us a chance to have a mini-training camp,” added Moon of the early bye. “We know what we need to work on and have two full weeks to prepare for New West.”
End Zone…
The Junior Varsity Sun Devils will be in action on Wednesday at SDSS when Windsor visits at 3:30 p.m.
