Hyacks' offence can't be touched, nor stopped in crucial victory

---

The New Westminster Hyacks have had a whirlwind of a 2025 season to say the least. They have lost to three of the top ten teams in the province by a combined 13 points. If one or two plays had ended differently, the team could have been in the driver's seat as the postseason approached.

Instead, they took to their home turf at Mercer Stadium for what might have been a do-or-die game against their rivals from just down the block, the St. Thomas More Knights. With the possibility of their season on the line, the Hyacks' offence exploded, putting up 58 points to the Knights' 28 in a thrilling back-and-forth affair.

For those of you who love a good old-fashioned shootout, the first half of this game was just what the doctor ordered. Each team's defensive unit had a mere one stop and the scoreboard reflected as such. 

When the teams entered the break, it was 26-20 in favour of the Hyacks. With the Knights' star fullback Cristian Coletta out, Milano Peloso picked up the slack with a dominant performance. He racked up yards on the ground, rushing for two touchdowns and adding an electric kick return for a major as well.

Speaking of electric returns just prior to Peloso's return, Mateo McDonell had an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown of his own. McDonell's first of three majors got the scoring started for the Hyacks, after costly unforced errors had put a stop to their opening drive.

From that point forward, the Hyacks' wing-t attack could do no wrong.

"Really proud of the players and their efforts. We only had the ball on Offence for 40 plays, but were able to put up 51 points and around 500 total yards," said Hyacks offensive coordinator Darnell Sikorski.

"STM is well coached and were smart about their defensive keys, but we were able to distribute the ball to different guys and score in multiple ways."

"Our offensive line has really improved over the last few weeks. Gavin Rai had time in the pocket to deliver the football and paved the way in our running game."

And deliver the ball Rai did. The Hyacks' starting pivot showed incredible touch on his deep passes, hitting receivers Joey Baker and Nigel DeRasp as they burned their defenders all game, finishing with 180 yards passing and 2 touchdowns.

DeRasp was particularly impressive. Having been nursing an injury since early in the season, the cornerback/receiver has been dominant in the past two weeks, putting up 125 receiving yards against the Knights.

Not only was DeRasp a headache for the Knights' defenders, but he made the biggest play of the game defensively for his team as well. With the Knights driving again just after halftime, a Knights' ball carrier took the ball outside looking for space.

DeRasp flew downhill from his cornerback spot and levelled the Knights runner with a picture-perfect hit, jarring the ball loose. McDonnell fell on that loose ball and the momentum of the game changed for good in the Hyacks' favour.

From that point on, fans at Mercer Stadium were once again treated to the Kah'ri Johnson show. The conference all-star averaged a ridiculous 20 yards per carry and rushed for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns to close out the Knights. 

"I'm really proud of how our players responded this week. We knew our season was potentially hanging in the balance and our players responded with their best performance of the year thus far," said Hyacks head coach Andrew McKechnie.

"Our offensive staff had a great game plan. Once our defence stayed disciplined against STM's option offence and followed Chad Oatway's game plan and halftime adjustments, I thought we played the best overall team defence we have all season."

The Hyacks will now set their sights on their round of sixteen matchup back at home, in a rematch against the G.W. Graham Grizzlies.