Perennial powerhouse Mount Douglas will be tested early in sa国际传媒 Secondary Schools Football Association play when the No. 4-ranked Rams entertain the No. 2 New Westminster Hyacks on their home field today at 3 p.m.
And the biggest test of all will come on offence as the Rams have to get by without a pair of key pieces.
Gideone Kremler will not be behind centre as the talented Grade 11 quarterback 鈥� who led the Rams to a provincial championship in his Grade 9 campaign 鈥� still rehabs from his torn ACL injury from last Oct. 21.
Also absent will be Phil Grohovac, a key piece to the dominating Rams鈥� offensive and defensive lines, as he came up with a minor injury last week in an preseason loss to Terry Fox that could keep him out for a few weeks.
Isaiah Cardilicchia and Dante Carbone have been splitting the quarterbacking duties in Kremler鈥檚 absence and coach Mark Townsend鈥檚 team will have to make do while injuries heal.
鈥淐oach Mark does a real good job making us work hard in practice every day and push us to our limits to make sure players are on top of their game,鈥� said Grade 12 returnee Soren Hallschmid, who is expected to have a big year on the offensive line and at middle linebacker.
He will be a leader, along with Cardilicchia, Jake Ounsted, Hayden Naylor and Kremler and Grohovac when they return.
鈥淲e鈥檙e expecting a big year out of a lot our varsity players, Grade 12s,鈥� added Hallschmid. 鈥淲e think we have the talent to do some damage. We may not have the numbers of some of the other teams, but I think with the talent we have we can surprise some teams in our conference.鈥�
A win today would go a long way toward that.
鈥淲e should be a top-five team in the province and I can see us competing with a lot of the best teams out there. I think we can do some damage,鈥� said Hallschmid, who stands six-foot-three and 235 pounds and has had interest expressed from the University of Alberta and University of Ottawa, among other U Sports schools.
In the Hyacks, the Rams will face a quick team, both offensively and defensively.
鈥淣ew West looks like a very impressive team on film. They have great team speed, probably one of the fastest teams I鈥檝e seen in years,鈥� said Townsend, who admits his Rams have some challenges with the injuries.
He鈥檒l have to rely on some junior varsity call-ups early in the season.
鈥淲e do miss him, he鈥檚 a great football player and he knows the offence well,鈥� Townsend said of Kremler. 鈥淗owever, we are working with a couple quarterbacks right now who we believe in. They鈥檙e very capable and they鈥檙e doing a good job of running our offence.
鈥淥ur goal is to work hard every week, get better and be as competitive every week as possible in a very tough Western Conference.鈥�
With New West challenging for the top.
鈥淲e鈥檝e really had to game plan for them,鈥� Hallschmid said of the visiting Hyacks, who are led by coach Farhan Lalji. 鈥淭hey have a wicked offence and seem to put up points against everybody. We have to do our jobs on defence.
鈥淭he strength of our team should be run defence,鈥� he added. 鈥淥ur offensive line is also stellar. We had a minor injury to one of our linemen, but he should be back in the next couple of weeks. I think our O line is one of the best in the province and we should be able to push any front seven in the province.鈥�
Kremler, for one, can鈥檛 wait to get behind that line.
鈥淚鈥檓 preparing to come back this year, but I still need final word from my doctors. I鈥檓 hoping to come back in a few weeks time. I鈥檓 not sure exactly when,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 safe to say we have one of the best offensive and defensive lines in the province. But that doesn鈥檛 mean we don鈥檛 have all of the tools we need at receiver and running back, too,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, the Belmont Bulldogs will play host to the always tough Vancouver College Fighting Irish today at 4 p.m. at Goudy Field. In double-A play, the Spectrum Thunder face John Barsby at 2:30 p.m. at Merle Logan field in Nanaimo prior to Ballenas tackling Nanaimo District on the same pitch at 6 p.m.
