As the high school boys rugby season wore on, it seemed that this would be the year the Yale Lions finally ended the Earl Marriott Mariners’ dynasty in the Fraser Valley.
Yale dominated both AAA Elite league games against their South Surrey rivals, winning 24-3 on April 11 and 22-0 on April 18.
But on Thursday in the Fraser Valley championship game, the Mariners finally found some traction, knocking off the Lions 21-16.
It marked Marriott’s fifth consecutive regional title, a run that includes four wins in the final over Yale (2009, ’10, ’11 and ’13).
“It’s tough,” Lions coach Doug Primrose acknowledged. “We’ve had really bad luck lately. We are definitely the better team, but they were the better team on the day.”
Primrose pointed out his team was missing two starters due to injury – star scrum half Spencer Miller, who has played on national age-class teams, broke his jaw at the provincial sevens tourney earlier this month and is out for the rest of the season. Additionally, Jack Boyle sat out with an ankle injury.
Notwithstanding those absences, the Yaleans built a 14-7 lead at the half at South Surrey Athletic Park.
But the Mariners dominated the early portion of the second half, surging ahead as the Lions took six consecutive penalties, including a yellow card to put them down a man for 10 minutes.
Yale made a late push, and appeared to score a game-tying try when Daniel Davidson dove in at the corner. The referee signaled a try, but the touch judge waved it off, saying Davidson had stepped on the sideline before diving in.
“When you’re missing two of your key players, and you don’t go out and play very well, then it’s a bad combination,” Primrose said. “We were almost able to pull it off, even though we played terrible.”
Travis Murray and Jason Hignell scored the Yale tries, while Davidson booted a pair of penalty kicks.
For Marriott, the victory was an emotional one. This group of Lions seniors had gotten the best of their Mariners counterparts each season, dating back to their Grade 8 days when the current Yaleans were at W.A. Fraser Middle School.
“When you watch these guys go into battle, and come out on the losing end time and time again, you know they’re hurting because they can’t find a way to pull out those victories,” Mariners coach Adam Roberts said.
“And I tell the boys all the time, ‘just stay in the fight, just keep swinging, and eventually good things will happen.’ I think any other team would’ve backed down, but they never gave up.”
The loss didn’t end up costing the Lions much in terms of seeding – they only slip from No. 3 to No. 4 in the AAA rankings heading to provincials. Opening-round games run on Saturday, May 25, and Yale plays Lord Byng at 4 p.m. at St. George’s School in Vancouver.
Two other local teams are also in the provincial field. The Robert Bateman Timberwolves are seeded No. 6 in AAA, and they play No. 11 Argyle at 2:30 p.m. at St. George’s.
In AA action, the No. 10 Rick Hansen Hurricanes hit the road to face No. 7 Clarence Fulton at Kelowna’s Parkinson Recreation Centre at 4 p.m.
The balance of the provincial tourney runs May 29-30 and June 1 at Exhibition Park in Abbotsford.
– with files from Nick Greenizan, Peace Arch News
