Some more heartache provided by their North Shore nemesis will take the South Delta Sun Devils back where their high school season started.
A 19-16 loss last week to the Handsworth Royals means the Sun Devils will finish no better than fourth in the South Conference, regardless of the outcome of tomorrow afternoon's regular season finale against top ranked John Barsby Bulldogs in Tsawwassen (1: 30 p.m. kickoff). That means a trip to Kamloops next weekend to face the Interior Conference second place finisher to open the provincial "AA" playoffs.
The game will take place at the same venue in Kamloops where the Devils opened their schedule with a 33-0 win over Prince George's Duchess Park.
"We didn't want to be in the situation we are in but we are at least going to familiar territory," said South Delta head coach Ray Moon, whose team will face Vernon, Clarence Fulton or Kalamalka, depending the outcome of games this weekend.
The loss to Handsworth was eerily similar to a year ago when South Delta squandered a big first half lead en route to an opening round playoff loss. This time, the Devils got off to a terrific start by marching down the field to score on their opening possession, then they added the two-point convert.
The Royals would answer with an unconverted major, but the visitors found the end zone again, as well as another two-point conversion, to open up a 16-6 advantage.
The momentum, however, swung for good during the late stages of the second quarter when what looked like a running play going nowhere, became a 50-yard major.
Handsworth suddenly trailed by just three points at the break and managed the only score of the second half as sloppy field conditions became a factor in moving the football.
"We had two guys hit him and it really looked like he had nowhere to go," sighed Moon. Instead, it ends up being a touchdown and suddenly our guys start wondering (about themselves). It's the sign of an experienced football team."
Despite a 5-5 overall record, which includes a 1-3 record in conference play, Moon insists his team is not far away from competing with many of the top schools in the province.
"I would say the only game we really didn't have a chance to win was against (second ranked) Mission," he added. "It hurts when you lose games like that but we need to overcome it and play to our ability."
