The Hanley Sabers senior boys football team is one win away from advancing to its second straight 6-man provincial championship final.
Standing in their way is the relatively unknown North Valley High Eagles who are seeing their first provincials’ competition in their short five-year history.
Mark Anderson, coach of the Sabers, said their Nov. 2 semifinal game at Lemberg against the Eagles may be the first time they have seen the club, but opposition coaches have given the Hanley staff a few pointers to help them prepare. He said North Valley High has a strong quarterback and plays a good all-round game, so his club will have to play their best to advance.
“They sound like a very strong team,” said Anderson. “From here on in there are no easy games. We’re in tough here. We lost a lot of kids from last year, so it’ll be a tough game for us. They are a very athletic team, so it’ll be interesting to see what they have for us.”
Eagles coach Bob Mayo said his team (6-1 in conference play this year) is “pretty quick” and uses that speed to their advantage. He said they’re not overly big, but play to their strengths which they must keep on doing if they hope to beat Hanley.
“The main thing is we’ve got to stay relaxed and not get too up,” said Mayo, whose team advanced to the semifinal game with a 52-28 quarterfinals win Oct. 26 over the Carrot River Wildcats. “We’ve never hosted a provincial game here and there has been a lot of buzz in our town, so keep our kids focused and as long as they do their jobs we’ll be in the game. If we get running around or trying to cover for people or do things that we’re not supposed to then we’re going to get in trouble.”
The Sabers advanced to the semifinal after trouncing the Elrose Eagles 74-16 at home in their Oct. 26 quarterfinal match. The team was led on defence once again by the strong play of safety Mike Lohrey who pulled in four interceptions and led the team in tackles.
Offensive ends Jesse Presnell and Kody Rowlet scored three touchdowns apiece for the Sabers to lead the team, while quarterback Joel Peters had an outstanding game throwing for over 200 yards.
Anderson said the team’s playoff experience really came into play against Elrose and the fact their conference is a bit better in competition level helped as well. He said the Eagles have good athletes and some big kids, but the Sabers were able to take advantage of some uncertainty on the Elrose defence propelling Hanley to an quick 22-0 lead after the first quarter and a 66-8 lead after three.
To read more please see the November 4 print edition of The Davidson Leader.