Not that you couldn’t before, but you can definitely call it a dynasty now.
Mount Douglas Rams head coach Mark Townsend wasn’t going down that road after his team’s tight 32-27 win over the Terry Fox Ravens on Saturday night, but his team’s third straight Subway Bowl, triple-A high school football title screams it now.
It was the first time a senior varsity team has claimed three straight since the Richmond Colts did it in 1996-98.
“We’ll leave that to you," Townsend said on the artificial turf at B.C. Place, surrounded by a happy group of Rams. “All I’m going to say is that I’m really proud of these guys and we’ll have some big shoes to fill. But we’ve got some talented kids that will form that 2014 team for Mount Douglas.”
There’s no sense getting too far ahead of ourselves here, but it’s not about what lies ahead, it’s what this team accomplished the last three years.
“I think you can call it that (a dynasty),” said Marcus Davis, who ran 27 times for 161 yards and three touchdowns to make it 72 major scores in his two years as a senior with the Rams. “I think we deserve it.”
And how.
Still, it was close. It took Davis’s late interception to seal the deal as the Rams had a 32-20 lead slip away late. Penalty calls and a critical non-call on a fourth-down Rams’ gamble, in which the Ravens’ defensive line moved but wasn’t detected, hindered what could have been an easier finish to the game.
“It was a little scary at the end,” admitted Davis, who also had three catches for 56 yards and was named the game’s most valuable player. “They were tough and they fought all four quarters. It was just good to come up with the win.
“We had to keep fighting and fighting,” said a relieved Davis. “I can’t even describe what I’m feeling. Getting the three-peat and working so hard for it is unbelievable.”
Mount Douglas got off to its patented quick start, scoring on the first two possessions, but failing on the point after and two-point conversions, respectively.
The Rams were up 19-14 at the half as the defence, which started out tremendously with Byron MacKinnon’s opening sack, in which he rocked Ravens quarterback Conner McKee’s world, and a subsequent Seye Farinu sack.
“I thought we got off to a great start, we scored on our first two possessions, and the defence was coming up with big plays,” said Townsend. “We were physical early. … We let them back into the game, but it was an epic battle. Back and forth.”
Until that late interception on a drive that started on Terry Fox’s five after an Ashton MacKinnon punt pinned the Ravens deep.
MacKinnon (from one yard out) and Farinu (15 yards) had the other Mount Douglas touchdowns. Davis’s TD runs were of 40, 23 and one yards.
Grade 10 receiver Gavin Cobb had six catches for 64 yards as MacKinnon completed 11 of 15 passes for 157 yards. He did have an interception and fumbled once. But he also had some key runs to extend drives.
Defensively, Julian Luis had eight tackles and four assists. Farinu and James Nicholas each had four tackles. Byron MacKinnon was, simply, a beast.
“I thought I popped him pretty good on the first one,” he said of his early hit on McKee.
The younger MacKinnon will be back and will obviously be one of the leaders on a team that graduates 21 players.
“We’ve got some big shoes to fill, but we’ve got some fantastic Grade 11s that are going to be moving up and a good core of Grade 10s, some who played in this game, so the future of Mount Douglas football looks very bright,” said Townsend. “I won’t make predictions, but we’ll be competitive.”
POINTS AFTER: Mount Doug’s Zach Wilkinson was named outstanding offensive lineman of the game and Terry Fox’s Michael West was named top back with his 70 yards rushing on 18 carries. He had a TD as did McKee, Jericho Mendez and Kyle Deugau. ... The Rams had 462 yards of total offence to the Ravens’ 278. The Rams were called for 14 penalties for 110 yards to just six for 65 for the Ravens.
