The shootout of all shootouts; Hawks put up 76 in historic offensive duel

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Remember last week when I said the matchup between the New Westminster Hyacks and WJ Mouat Hawks was likely to be an old-fashioned shootout? Well, I was wrong. This was no mere old-fashioned shootout; this was the highest scoring game in BC High School Football history as the Hawks emerged victorious 76-53 over the Hyacks in an all-time offensive duel.

Both teams' defences were at a loss most of the night. Both teams' units had three stops apiece, but the biggest difference was on special teams. The Hyacks fumbled two kickoff returns, the first being after Mouat had taken a 22-21 lead. Those two costly mistakes led to the Hawks' deadly offence getting extra possessions and as they did all game, they made the Hyacks pay.

Elijah Black, Max Pratt and Santiago Llarena were unstoppable for the Hawks. Black found both Pratt and Llarena over and over as the Hawks racked up points through the air. When the Hyacks sold out to stop the trio, Charlie Franson churned out yards on the ground, breaking away for multiple long touchdown runs.

The Hyacks' defence tried everything to slow down Black. When they sent all-out pressure, Black stayed poised and found Pratt, who made multiple ridiculous catches and was unguardable one-on-one. When they doubled, Pratt Llarena came up with huge catches on the sidelines. In the rare moments when both players were covered, Black would extend plays with his legs, keeping drives alive or scoring on his own.

The Hyacks' offence started their attack on the ground. Mateo McDonell attacked the edges of the Hawks' defence, scoring on jet sweeps. Kah'ri Johnson did his thing, attacking up the middle in the ground game, while Gavin Rai found Eli Smith through the air for massive chunk plays, including a long touchdown. 

Once the Hawks got ahead by a couple of scores, the Hyacks had no chance of catching them. Every time the Hyacks would answer a Hawks major, Mouat would score mere plays later in deflating fashion. 

"I'm so proud of how our players fought till the final whistle. We knew we needed to play near perfect to win this game and after those turnovers and being down multiple scores, it would've been easy for the players to quit, but they refused," said Hyacks' head coach Andrew McKechnie.

"I'd like to thank our seniors for all the hard work they've put into this program. Our coaching staff is so proud of how far they've come as individuals."

The Hawks will now head to the dome to take on the South Delta Sun Devils next Sunday. With their passing attack being the most explosive I've seen in the province's history and the perfect conditions of BC Place at their side, the Hawks will be the team to beat in the final four.