A school record second half gave the St. Thomas More Knights a best-ever win over Vancouver College Fighting Irish in B.C. high school AAA football last week.
The varsity Knights scored six times in the second half to defeat their independent rival 54-20 in a B.C. high school quarter-final matchup at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West on Friday.
Under mostly rainy conditions and tied 13-13 at halftime after an earlier lengthy injury delay, STM opened the second half with great field position following a 72-yard kickoff return by J.J. DesLauriers.
Three plays later, STM quarterback Terrell Jana scored the first of his two back-to-back touchdowns that got the Knights marching to the program's largest margin of victory ever over the Fighting Irish.
Jana finished the game with 94 yards rushing and two scores and a touchdown strike to DesLauriers in the final quarter.
Leading 26-13, lineman Ben Steele stopped a VC drive with a tackle of a loss. Fifteen plays later, Andrew Flett capped a time-consuming 98-yard drive with a short run for a TD.
On the next possession, Flett applied the back-breaker in the game, intercepting a Giordy Belfiore pass and returning the ball 45 yards for another STM TD to make the score 39-13.
"Vancouver College always motivates us. It made us play as hard as we did," said DesLauriers, who had seven catches for 104 yards, including a touchdown.
DesLauriers also had another even bigger motivation. After losing his grandmother that morning, the all-conference wide receiver wanted to dedicate his play in her honour.
"I played the game for her," DesLauriers said. "She was watching me. ... It was hard, but she helped me get through today."
DesLauriers helped set up STM's second TD on a big 4th-and-long reception to the College five-yard line in the opening quarter that allowed Matt Duda to later score on a short run.
He scored himself on a 10-yard reception from Jana late in the game following a Jordan Stewart fumble recovery.
On the ensuing possession, Stewart picked off an Irish pass and took it 40 yards to the house for the Knights' sixth touchdown of the half.
Running back Shane Noel had a strong night rushing, piling up 143 yards on the ground and one TD. Spencer Moore led the Knights defence with nine individual tackles.
The win was a "very satisfying" one for the STM head coach Bernie Kully.
"The big thing was we overcame a ton of adversity. We battled, we fought and we stuck to our systems," Kully said after the game. "These guys can do whatever they want to do. If they want to run the table, they can run the table."
But DesLauriers knows it will take an even better effort next week, when they face three-time defending AAA provincial champion Mt. Douglas Rams in the semifinals.
"This and more," DesLauriers said. "We're going to have a great week of practice. I can feel it."
