The B.C. high school football championships are back under cover. The traditional venue, the domed B.C. Place Stadium, will again host the semifinals on Nov. 27 and finals on Dec. 4.
There originally had been some doubt about that due to scheduling conflicts. But with the playoff dates/possibilities for the Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer and B.C. Lions in the Canadian Football League now known, the required dates became available for high school football.
“We are so thrilled our student-athletes will once again get the amazing opportunity to compete in the Subway Bowl under the bright lights and ideal conditions B.C. Place provides,” B.C. School Sports executive director Jordan Abney said in a statement.
“We look forward to providing the student-athletes an amazing experience that will create memories to last a lifetime.”
The football championships will feature more than 600 players competing from Grade 8 through junior varsity and Triple-A and Double-A senior varsity.
The post-season process begins today with the Mount Douglas Rams, ranked No. 3 in the province in senior varsity Triple-A, taking on the W.J. Mouat Hawks of Abbotsford at 4:30 p.m. at Goudy Field in Langford. The Rams are an organization that knows B.C. Place well, having won six B.C. Triple-A senior varsity championships over 11 seasons, the previous in 2018, and several more in junior varsity.
“We have enjoyed great team success over the past 12 years, but the 2021 version of the Rams are determined to write their own chapter in Rams football history,” said Rams head coach Mark Townsend, at the beginning of the season.
They seem to be doing just that with seven Mount Douglas players named as conference all-stars after going 5-2 in the regular season. They are quarterback Hunter Swift, running back Miltiadis Koulelis, receiver Malik Gagne-Smith, offensive lineman Sebastian Sibbald, defensive lineman Nelson Way, defensive back Bronson Pheiffer and kicker Giovanni Linuzzi.
After a dark 2020 due to the pandemic, this will be the first senior varsity post-season experience for most of the players.
“This is a talented team with past playoff experience at the junior varsity level,” Townsend said, in a statement.
“We will look to stellar contributions from every player but will especially depend upon our team leaders to play their absolute best football of the season.”
The Belmont Bulldogs, meanwhile, open the Triple-A playoffs on the road today against the Centennial Centaurs in Coquitlam in what is dubbed Wildcard Weekend.
On the Double-A side, the John Barsby Bulldogs of Nanaimo and Ballenas Whalers of Parksville both open the playoffs on the road today with the Bulldogs meeting the Carson Graham Eagles in North Vancouver and the Whalers playing the Holy Cross Crusaders in Surrey.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
