New Westminster Hyacks Vs Seaquam Seahawks

---

Seniors Night is a celebration of the hard work, dedication and drive of a program's oldest players. For many coaches, this brings a mix of emotions. On the one hand, coaches are beyond proud of how their players have matured to reach this point.

Every young man or woman has a different story of their time throughout their respective team's program and any coach will tell you one of the most rewarding things you can do is be part of a players' development and see them grow as an individual through their four years with your program. 

On the other hand, you're sad that your time together is coming to an end. The New Westminster Hyacks sent their seniors out the right way with a 43-14 win over the Seaquam Seahawks.

After a tight first half, the Hyacks got back to what made them successful all season.

"We were a little cute in the 1st half and while we had some success through the air and on the ground, we were unable to finish a couple of drives. We got back to basics and effectively ran the football in the 2nd half, especially once we were at near full strength," Hyacks Head Coach Andrew McKechnie said on his team's second-half adjustments. 

The Hyacks pounded the rock at will, led by Nikolas Panesar, who had over 200 yards rushing and two scores, and Tyson Godspower with 100 yards and two touchdowns of his own. 

The Seahawks may have fallen short, but it wasn't due to a lack of effort. Hyacks offensive coordinator Darnell Sikorski was impressed with his opponent's tenacity throughout the contest. 

"Seaquam has some good players on both sides of the ball. They battled extremely hard, and knowing a win would really improve their playoff chances. They fought valiantly," Sikorski said.

McKechnie loved his team's second-half performance and was happy his large senior class had a game to remember fondly. 

"I'm so happy we were able to finish like we did in the 2nd half, especially for the 20-plus seniors on our roster," he said.

"It was their best half of football on the year and we hope to really build off that momentum against what will be a very hungry STM team next week. Our players and programs obviously know each other very well so we will need to bring our A-game next week."

That big game against the Knights kicks off next Friday at 7:30.