Centennial Centaurs vs South Delta Sun Devils

When two great teams play against one another, the margin between victory and defeat is razor-thin. This matchup between the Centennial Centaurs and South Delta Sun Devils proved just that. These two contenders went blow for blow with one another and in the end, the Centaurs were victorious by a mere two points, in a 22-20 victory.

After Centennial took a 2-0 lead off a safety, the Sun Devils came storming back late in the second quarter. First, Damian Dumas took a snap from the gun just shy of midfield. He called his own number on a quarterback draw, made three defenders grasp at air, hit the right sideline and went yard for the Sun Devils' first major of the game.

Later, with the ball back in South Delta's possession after forcing a turnover deep in their own territory, Dumas showed off his arm strength. The Sun Devils emptied out their backfield and Dumas took the snap gain from the gun. He faded back to pass and ripped the ball between two Centaurs on a crossing route to his receiver Quinn Sjoberg. The 6'5 target took off for a big gain after the catch deep into Centaurs territory before being hauled down.

Dumas would finish off the drive a couple plays later on a quarterback sneak to take a 13-2 South Delta lead into the half. With the game beginning to slip away, the Centaurs needed to answer fast to start the third quarter.

Their defence provided the first spark as they stopped the Sun Devils and got the ball back to quarterback Jacob Cusker. The Centaurs used a balanced attack, running the ball inside with Jasper Baron as well as letting Cusker distribute the ball to his targets to drive deep into Sun Devil territory before Cusker found Ediri Ena-Laqui in the back of the endzone to cut the deficit to 13-8.

The pace of the game would die down as both defences took control for the rest of the third quarter. That trend seemed to be continuing until, with just under four minutes to go in the ball game, when all hell broke loose.

The Centaurs pounded the rock with Jasper Baron and worked their way all the way to the three-yard line before Cusker ran it in, putting the Centaurs up 16-13, after a Baron two-point convert was added after the major.

Since the explosive end to the first half, the Sun Devils' explosive attack had been held dormant, but as anyone who's followed football in BC the last couple of years knows, you can only contain Damian Dumas for so long.

The very first play from scrimmage after the score, Dumas showed why he's so special. Damian took the snap from the gun but dropped the ball. While most players would panic, Dumas stayed calm, picked up the ball and threw a strike to Stoberg down the right sideline on a fade ball, who showed off his blazing speed, outrunning the Centaurs' defence for a 60-yard score. A dropped snap resulted in Dumas dropping a dime and just like that, the Sun Devils regained the lead 20-16.

The Centaurs' lead had evaporated in a matter of seconds. Now, all the Centaur's offence could do was put their helmets back on and get ready to head out and respond after the ensuing kickoff. As they prepared themselves for a due-or-die drive, that aforementioned kickoff fell into Jaedyn Livingstone's hands at his own 20-yard line.

Livingstone took the ball from the right hash mark and quickly darted to the middle of the field. He got to about the 35-yard line before two defenders had him seemingly cut off. Livingstone made a quick jump cut, evading both players, and found a seam down the left hash. He was at the 50, the 40, and now, with just the kicker to evade, he wound back to the middle of the field, making him miss and then outran the rest of the Sun Devils' kickoff team, sprinting the rest of the way before crossing the goal line.

The Centaurs' bench erupted as that return proved to be the game-winner. What a wild end to a fantastic game, between two teams who will likely be playing deep into November.

“It was a great football game with two good teams. I was pleased with our resilience to come back in the second half and keep fighting every play. It is difficult to pick any specific players on defence as it was truly a team defensive effort," said Centaur's head coach Dino Geremia.

"They were solid all night. Most specifically, the defensive line made some big plays vs the very talented Dumas when they had to late in the game. We have to enjoy this for a couple of hours and then focus on a tough road game to play Belmont next week at their house," he said.

As for the Sun Devils, they'll head out on the road to take on the number one-ranked WJ Mouat Hawks next Friday.