The Yale Lions scrapped and clawed their way into position for an epic upset on Thursday evening, but it wasn’t to be.
At halftime of their provincial AAA semifinal at Rotary Stadium vs. top-ranked St. George’s of Vancouver, the No. 4-seeded Lions held an eyebrow-raising 6-5 lead behind a remarkably stout defence and a ball-control offence.
But after the break, the Saints finally found some traction in the soggy conditions, and pulled away for a 33-6 victory.
“We just played a real aggressive defence, and when we had the ball we were able to keep it,” Yale coach Doug Primrose said, reflecting on his team’s first-half success. “Our forwards played real tough.
“Second half, we just ran out of gas a little bit and they were able to crank it up a little bit. They’re the No. 1 team, and they showed why.”
The Lions, who had beaten Kelowna 18-3 in the quarter-finals to earn their Final Four berth, got a pair of penalty kicks from Daniel Davidson to account for their scoring vs. the Saints.
St. George’s moves on to meet No. 2 Shawnigan Lake, the four-time defending AAA champion, in the provincial final at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Rotary Stadium.
The Lions, meanwhile, clash with their arch-rival Earl Marriott Mariners in the bronze medal game at 1 p.m.
It will be the fourth meeting between the two teams this year – Yale beat the Mariners twice by lopsided margins during the regular season, but dropped a disappointing 21-16 decision in the Fraser Valley title game two weeks ago.
“It’s a big game – we want to win it,” Primrose noted. “For right now, the boys just have to get over this loss (vs. St. George’s). They were pretty excited about the way they were playing, they just came up short.”
The other two Abbotsford teams in the draw also lost on Thursday.
The Bateman Timberwolves fell 12-8 to West Vancouver in AAA consolation action, and will play Oak Bay in the seventh/eighth placing game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
On the AA scene, the Rick Hansen Hurricanes dropped a 23-22 heartbreaker to Hugh Boyd. They play in the seventh/eighth game in their tier, taking on G.W. Graham of Chilliwack at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
