South Delta Junior Bantam Rams capped a historical season by playing in the provincial semi-finals last weekend in Kelowna.
The Rams earned the trip to the Okanagan by becoming the first-ever South Delta team to win the Vancouver Mainland Football League Junior Bantam championship. The memorable 2011 season ended with a 39-8 loss to the Interior champion Mission Lions.
For many of the 12-and-13-year-old players, this was their first road trip and a great learning experience.
The journey to the provincial final four started with South Delta finishing third in regular season play and earning a VMFL quarter-final date with the Coquitlam Vikings. The locals rolled to a 24-8 home field win, then travelled to New West where they produced an exciting 30-24 upset win over the Royal City Hyacks.
The championship game, played at Minoru Park in Richmond, was another thriller against the Coquitlam Raiders with the Rams prevailing by another 30-24 score.
Led by touchdowns from Michael Mann, Jake Hampton and Takeshi Kimura, the Rams raced out to a 22-point lead. Coquitlam came storming back and a quarterback sack on the game's final play sealed the South Delta victory.
Others contributing to the Rams tremendous season included: Jared Beaton, Dakota Campbell, Kyle Chace, Petro Chountalos, Sean Cochrane, Joshua Dale, Jordan Drab, Jackson Drew, Spencer Fair, Stefano Goulas, Kieran Hall, Nic Hefford, Cooper Jones, John Kelly, Evan Khara, Alex Larocque, Landon Martin, Grant McDonald, Charlie Moore, Colin Peterson, Ryan Pugh, Benjamin Silva Pinto, Garrett Smith, Dylan Stevenson, Ryan Von Ende and Matthew Ward.
Credit also goes to the work and dedication of the coaching staff, led by head coach Jeff Von Ende and assistants Dean Larocque, Bruce McDonald, John Mann, Martin O'Hara and Matt Jutras.
