The No. 1-ranked and undefeated Terry Fox Ravens stand between the Mount Douglas Rams and a fifth straight trip to the senior boys triple-A provincial football championship game.
Mount Douglas clashes with Terry Fox today at 2:30 p.m. at sa国际传媒 Place, with the winner advancing to the sa国际传媒 Subway Bowl the following Saturday.
The Rams will be facing a two-headed monster coming out of the Ravens鈥 offensive backfield in Taylor Poitras and Jeremie Kankolongo, who average 126 and 130 yards per game rushing, respectively. Jake Iaberge runs the offence at quarterback.
Terry Fox was 6-0 in regular-season play and added a 33-14 win over defending Subway Bowl champs South Delta in quarter-final play last week. The Rams (5-1) had won the previous three sa国际传媒 crowns and hammered Kelowna 51-13 last week.
鈥淭hey do have the 1-2 running back punch,鈥 Rams head coach Mark Townsend said of the Ravens. 鈥淛ake Iaberge is a very good quarterback, as well. He鈥檚 very athletic and throws the ball well. It鈥檚 not just about their running attack, although they put up the great statistics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a real challenge. Terry Fox is not undefeated and ranked No. 1 without good reason. We see no real weaknesses on offence or defence. They鈥檙e solid throughout and we know this is going to be a big challenge for us,鈥 added Townsend.
It鈥檚 all in the preparation as the Rams focus on the pesky Ravens.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to it, playing in the dome and it didn鈥檛 matter who we played,鈥 said Rams running back/receiver/defensive back Gavin Cobb. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just a good all-around football team, so we鈥檙e going to have to play our best to beat them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 awesome to be back in the semifinals. We鈥檙e never over-looking any opponent. We鈥檙e going to take on Terry Fox and hopefully make it to the final.鈥
鈥淭hey are definitely the team to beat,鈥 added Rams鈥 running back/linebacker Declann Michielin. 鈥淭hey are No. 1 and, hopefully, we can pull this thing out and get Mount Doug back into the championship game.鈥
New Westminster faces Vancouver College in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.
EXTRA POINTS: The Rams did defeat Terry Fox 32-27 in the 2013 championship game. . . . Mount Doug鈥檚 triple-A Jr. Varsity team defeated Lord Tweedsmuir 26-14 and have advanced to face New Westminster in that final next Saturday afternoon.