It began with one of the more impressive wins in the history of South Delta Sun Devils Football and the momentum on and off the field has been rolling since.
The Sun Devils opened their junior varsity exhibition schedule with just 14 players but still found a way to defeat the New West Hyacks 30-22. They went on to win three more games and double their roster size in the process.
Head coach Scott Martens began teaching at his former high school last year. It was the first time in recent memory the football program had a staff member coaching and his impact has already been immense.
“This year I have changed positions and I’m in the PE department and I’m teaching (Grade) 8s, 9s and 10s so I might have harassed some kids until they came out and played,” laughed Martens. “We have added about 10 guys since. We are up to about 28 now.
“That first game was kind of like a litmus test with 14 guys. We have some really good athletes and we saw that against New West which so far has been our toughest game. Those 14 guys battled like crazy and you could see some of the athleticism we have. Now adding some more numbers and guys figuring it out it, bodes well for this year and the future.”
The Sun Devils made short work of the Sullivan Heights Stars on Thursday in a 46-6 win at Dennison Park. It was evident early on against the second-year Surrey school his team would dominant, allowing Martens to give some valuable playing time to his newcomers.
Now South Delta jumps into four weeks of conference play, starting next Thursday with a trip to North Vancouver to face Carson Graham.
“With a lot of new guys playing we had some confusion out there but they got some playing time. Exhibition been good for that,” added Martens. “With Carson next week it’s going to get tougher and with the four league games we want to put ourselves in a position to be in the playoffs.”
South Delta will host Handsworth Oct. 10 and also Mt. Doug on Oct. 24.
End Zone…
The senior team returns to work today (1:30 p.m.) against Carson Graham in Western AAA Conference play. The Devils’ big win over Vancouver College last week moved them up to No. 3 in the latest rankings.
