The SRT Titans, in their first year of football at the varsity level, will face their crosstown rival Marauders under the Friday night lights in Pitt Meadows.
“It should be a big night,” said Pitt Meadows coach Matt Todd. “We’re expecting big crowds.”
Pitt has attracted as many as 400 fans for their regular games, so a contest where they face an in-town rival should bloat the crowd considerably.
Todd said the kids have developed a proper cross-town rivalry playing junior football against each other. Now, both sides will arrive at the Pitt Meadows field determined to prove they are the big dog in the Ridge Meadows school district.
“It’ll be a tough, hard-hitting game.”
The Marauders are coming off a big 28-0 league win over the Abbotsford Collegiate Panthers on Friday. They led 7-0 at the half, and then broke the game open in the second half to improve to 1-1 in league play.
High school teams are typically known to emphasize their running games, but Pitt used an aerial attack to put up points. Quarterback Jake Schuster found wide receivers Manny Gill and Justin Tweedie in the end zone, for passes of 20 yards each. Then he hit wideout Jacob Gowler with deep pass as Gowler blew past coverage, for a 40-yard pass/run scoring play.
The other touchdown came from running back Brandon Stewart, who ripped the Panthers for 175 yards and a major on just 21 carries. The Grade 12, second-year starter was playing his first game of the season.
Ryan Beaubien, a Grade 11 safety, led the Marauders in tackles with seven for the game. Another defensive standout was 275-pound defensive lineman Cole White, who had five tackles.
They will have their work cut out for them on Friday, as dynamic running back Tyrell Ogloff is the lead dog in offence for Samuel Robertson Technical. The Titans’ chain mover broke out for 288 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in his first league game of the season, which was a close 21-18 loss to Langley.
The Titans are coming off a 35-0 route at the hands of the Robert Bateman Timberwolves on the week past, so they have started their inaugural campaign in the Eastern Conference with an 0-2 record.
The Marauders are 1-1, suffering a Week 1 loss to the Mission Roadrunners, by a score of 20-6. Mission is considered one of the elite teams on the double A circuit.
• Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
