Vancouver College

The Vancouver College Varsity Football team played New Westminster Highschool this weekend.  The Irish won the game and are keeping their eyes set on the BC Championship this year.  Below is an excerpt from an article written about the game.  For a complete Irish schedule see the Upcoming Events Page.

Lets Go Irish!!

Article provided by Bruce Jagger.

New Westminster – After a first half where it looked like the New Westminster Hyacks were going to run roughshod over Vancouver College, the Fighting Irish fashioned one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory to defeat their league rivals 35-29.   With the game tied, time winding down below the one minute mark and VC with the ball at mid field, Sam Sekhon threw a strike to Cody Rossi who bobbled the ball but hung on to romp 49-yards for the winning score.

The first quarter started out with a bizarre series of turnovers as College kicked off to the Hyacks.  The returner promptly fumbled the ball (the driving rain storm might have contributed to it) and it was recovered by Francesco Renzullo on the Hyack 19-yard line.  The Irish wasted no time as three plays later, Garret Sanvido went into the end zone to make it a quick 7-0 for College.  The Irish kicked off and New West quickly moved the ball down field and scored on a 30 yard run to event the game at sevens.  The Irish then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and quickly New Westminster had the ball back and a few plays later, a 14-7 lead.  It was déjà-vu all over again as the same result occurred on the next kickoff.  Hyacks kick off, Irish fumble, Hyacks score and all of a sudden its 22-7 (after a two point conversion) and things were not looking promising for the visitors.  An interception late in the quarter gave New West the ball again and early in the second period, they scored again to make the score a commanding 29-7.

To their great credit, VC did not fold and after a 26 yard James Emerson kickoff return the Irish moved the ball down the field with a combination of Garret Sanvido runs and Sam Sekhon passes to Cody Rossi and Emerson to the Hyacks 3-yard line.  From there, Francesco Renzullo bulled his way in to narrow the margin at the half to 29-13.

The Irish offense sputtered to commence the second half but the defense appeared to respond to the half time wake up call.  With Sagar Bachra, Matthew Pauls and Matthias Goossen (playing his first defensive plays of the season) leading the way College finally contained the Hyacks and late in the quarter forced a fumble that Geno Lalana recovered.  With the ball near mid field Sekhon went to work and found Cody Rossi with a 14 yard gain then threw a strike to James Emerson who scored from 28 yards out.  Sanvido scored the two point conversion to narrow the gap to 29-21 going into the final quarter.

The defense held strong again and the Hyacks punted to the Irish and, with a good roll, put them back on their own 11-yard line to start their possession.  The offensive line promptly opened a hole for Garret Sanvido and he raced 76 yards before being brought down on the Hyacks 13 yard line.  He was given a play or two to catch his breath and then scored from the 15.  His second two-point conversion of the evening knotted the score at 29’s.  The Hyacks came back and moved the ball into Irish territory but VC held and forced a fourth down.  New West came out appearing to kick a field goal, but the ensuing fake was sniffed out by Ryan Wong who tackled the ball carrier to give the ball back to VC.  Sanvido moved the ball towards midfield, setting up the Sekhon – Rossi histrionics to cap the comeback for the Irish.  New West threatened in the closing seconds (a time clock error appeared to let the game go longer than it should have) but a huge sack by Matthias Goossen and a game saving tackle by Ryan Wong and Francesco Renzullo saved the day and the victory for the Irish.