The South Delta Sun Devils will be attempting to exorcise a ghost from seasons past when they travel to the North Shore this afternoon for a pivotal Western Conference match-up.
Ray Moon's impressive tenure as head coach of the Tsawwassen high school football program includes little in the way of fond memories anytime his team has lined up against Handsworth Royals. It was the North Vancouver squad that defeated the Devils in Moon's firstever provincial final back in 2007. Then last season, South Delta looked to be well on its way to a playoff victory, only to surrender three unanswered touchdowns in a 21-18 loss.
Even victories have produced dark clouds including in 2009 when star running back Sam Livingston had to walk off the field for the final time of his high school career. It was during a game against the Royals when the Sun Devils received an emergency call at the bench to learn Livingston was playing with mononucleosis after his doctor had received test results.
"There definitely is some history there and not a lot of fond memories," chuckled Moon. "Last year's (playoff) loss left a bitter taste in our mouths for a long time. Anytime we match up with them, we know it's going to be a chal-lenge."
Th Sun Devils enter the tilt with a 1-1 conference record after their most impressive performance of the season, a 38-13 home field romp of the Windsor Dukes. The Royals sit at 1-2, having also defeated Windsor (6-0) and falling to top five ranked teams John Barsby and Ballenas. The winner will be assured of at least third place finish and a more favourable opening round match-up when the provincial playoffs kick off in two weeks.
Moon is hoping his team's dominating performance against Windsor will provide the needed springboard for the stretch run that also includes a home date with top ranked Barsby on Nov. 5 in South Delta's final regular season game.
"The boys showed up focused this time," said Moon of the win. "We still made a couple of mistakes but they are becoming less and less as the season progresses which is par for the course when you have a young team.
"It all started with the play of our offensive line. They sustained a lot of their blocks as a unit and the errors were minimal. It just really helps everything else. There were times where (quarterback) Kyle (Menzies) could have had a cup of coffee. No one was getting through."
The end result was South Delta producing nearly 400 yards in total offence. The balanced attack featured Menzies throwing for 196 yards, including a touchdown toss to promising Grade 10 receiver Mitch Dino. Six running backs combined for over 150 yards.
The Sun Devils defence also enjoyed an impressive afternoon, producing a touchdown on a fumble recovery by senior linebacker Tyler Jamieson and a safety.
While the Royals only managed to squeak past Windsor, they did find the end zone three times in a respectable 34-20 loss to Ballenas last weekend.
"It's really hard to gauge them based on those two results," added Moon. "We do expect them to put the ball up in the air a lot."
More than anything, he just wants to see a different ending this time against his nemesis.
