Heading into the semifinal game, the Langley Saints knew they would need to contain Abbotsford Panthers star Chase Claypool if they hoped to advance to the senior varsity AA championship game.
After all, Claypool went off for six touchdowns the week before in his team’s upset victory over the two-time defending champion John Barsby Bulldogs.
Claypool didn’t score six touchdowns this time, but he still inflicted enough damage to help defeat the Saints 50-29. The teams were playing at B.C. Place on Saturday night.
“He is a special, special athlete,” said Langley co-head coach Ryk Piche of the six-foot-five star receiver who is off to the University of Notre Dame next year on scholarship.
“With his body type, he looks like a third-year university player.
“We had two guys covering him, we had one high, one low, we had one playing man and one playing zone (defence) over top of him and there were times they would just throw a ball up in his general direction and the young man would come down with the ball.”
After a botched punt resulted in a safety for the Panthers, Langley led 8-2 at one point in the first quarter thanks to a 55-yard touchdown from Max Joseph.
But the Panthers led 29-8 at the half and were up 43-21 after three quarters, with Langley getting scores from Joseph, on a 47-yard catch-and-run and then a 30-yard touchdown run from Azuka Okoli.
The Saints last score was a fumble recovery from Jayden Korfman in the final minute.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot of times offensively by not getting the ball out on time, by not making proper reads … just a lot of things,” Piche said.
“Our offence stalled a bit in the beginning and then we started to come around in the second half and it was too little too late.”
Despite the disappointment of the loss, it was a fantastic season for the Saints, who did not even field a senior varsity squad in 2014.
‘But we are a fairly young team, we have a lot of Grade 11s, and we see a very bright future,” Piche said.
“There is so much we have learned from this.
“We have gotten some valuable experience with this group of kids on going to the post-season and being successful and that little bit of disappointment where you want to go one step further.”
The Saints also expect to field a junior varsity team in the fall.
Piche also thanked the LSS administration for all their support in helping build the program.
