At the end of an incredibly intense provincial AA championship final football game played in front of a raucous crowd at BC Place Saturday afternoon, Carson Graham head coach John Buchanan had a vital message to deliver but no voice to do it with.
There was one second left on the clock following an improbable, holy-smokes-did-that-just-happen last minute drive and the Eagles, trailing 21-20, amazingly found themselves deep in John Barsby territory with a chance to kick the game-winning field goal. Carson quarterback Mo Mohseni had just completed a season-saving 26-yard pass to star running back A.J. Blackwell who was brought down at the 20. The Eagles, however, had no timeouts, meaning the clock would restart as soon as the referees blew their whistle to resume the action once the chains were set. The ball needed to be snapped the instant that the whistle blew to give the Eagles a chance to kick the winning points. Buchanan knew this and he wanted to make sure his whole team on the field knew it too.
“I was trying to yell out at our guys to get that done,” Buchanan said in a quiet rasp following the game, his booming voice reduced to a near whisper after a day of shouting through the din. “They didn’t hear it. They were set, they were ready to go. They blew it in — they even gave us a couple of seconds — but it just was too slow.”
With the ball resting harmlessly on the ground the officials counted off the final second and then blew their whistles once more to end one of the wildest high school football championship finishes this province has ever seen. Barsby celebrated in near shock while the Carson players swung quickly from confusion to utter devastation. Following the game Buchanan had the tough task of picking up the pieces and putting the team and their season back together.
“It’s tough to lose that way but I couldn’t be more proud of the kids,” he said. “We talked all week about putting ourselves in a position to win, and right down to the end they did that. They got themselves into a position where it could have happened and it would have been miraculous if it had. But the game that they played, the season that they’ve had compared to last year — unbelievable. I’m just so proud of this group of kids. Just outstanding.”
Carson drew first blood in the game with Blackwell, switching from running back to play quarterback in a new wildcat offence the Eagles unveiled late in the season, led a long drive that was capped by Russell Tolentino’s six-yard touchdown run. Barsby quarterback North Rainey tied it up at 7-7 with a short run in the second half before Blackwell made the biggest gain of the day, romping 70 yards for a touchdown that put the Eagles up 13-7 — the convert hit the upright — heading into halftime.
The Bulldogs tied it at 13 in the third quarter, setting up a Wild West shootout for a finish. Carson looked good for the win following an early fourth quarter drive that saw Blackwell rip off a 15 yard run on a fourth down gamble and Mohseni, the team’s regular starting quarterback, throw a 21-yard strike to Sam Williams on another fourth down gamble to put the ball on the Barsby four yard line. Lucas Bill finished it off with a wild leap over a trio of Barsby tacklers for a two-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a 20-13 lead.
Barsby kept coming, however, and capped their own clutch drive with quarterback Brody Taylor, in to replace Rainey who left with an injury before halftime, going deep to Cole Virtanen for a 34-yard touchdown. With less than 90 seconds left in the game the Bulldogs opted to go for a two-point conversion and running back Kyle Vollett just barely crossed the line to grab a 21-20 lead and set up Carson’s heroic but heart-breaking dash for the final field goal. Starting on his own 32, Mohseni completed a big third-down pass to Williams before Bill made an incredible leaping catch on fourth and seven to keep the game alive with 12 seconds left. Blackwell supplied the final heroics, rounding out his quarterback/running back day by lining up at receiver and pulling down the grab to set up the field goal attempt that never got off the ground.
In the award ceremony following the contest Blackwell was named the game’s MVP for his offensive efforts as well as an acrobatic interception he made in the fourth quarter despite subbing in and out of the game with an injured hip.
“What can you say,” Buchanan replied when asked about Blackwell, a player who wrecked his knee at the beginning of the 2012 season but came back for his Grade 12 year and proceeded to torch the entire league on a weekly basis. “I don’t think he cares at all right now about getting the MVP of this game. That’s not what he worked for, that’s not the kind of kid he is. But what a phenomenal game by him.”
The Eagles also got a strong performance from linebacker Jeremy Sinclair who was in on tackle after tackle.
“He has no business being the player that he is,” said Buchanan. “He’s so small. I don’t know what his weight is — about 140 pounds? — and he plays like he’s 210. That guy is just ferocious out there.”
The Carson offence slowed in the second half following an injury to provincial all-star lineman Rory MacLennan.
“He’s a huge part of our game, as important as A.J.,” said Buchanan. “He’s tough to replace. Cam Cross, our other tackle, was hurt (as well). Our whole running game revolves around our tackles so that was really tough.”
Buchanan tipped his cap to Barsby for overcoming their own injuries, including their starting quarterback midway through the final as well as leading rusher Brandon Parker who was hurt in last weekend’s semifinal.
“Pretty character win for them,” said Buchanan, adding that the Bulldogs made big plays when needed, including the gamble to get a two-point conversion for the win instead of kicking for overtime.
“So ballsy,” said Buchanan with a chuckle. “I like to think I would have done the same thing, but yeah, what a great call. That’s what you’re here for — you’re here to win. They took the shot, they got it. Full credit to them.”
As for the Eagles, this loss will sting for a while but Buchanan is hoping one day his players will look back on this season and appreciate all that went into their run to the final.
“You lose a game like that . . . that’s tough. I mean, that’s gut-wrenching. But that pain will go. They need to be proud about the game they played, the positions that they put themselves in to get that shot,” he said. “If we came in here and got man-handled, then they could feel bad about it, but they left everything out there on the field. They prepared so hard for it, they put in the work, they executed, they did everything we asked them to do. They’re going to feel good about this down the road. Today? No, definitely not. This will be a tough weekend, but when they look back on it they should be nothing but proud.”
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B.C. High School Football Association award winners were recently announced with several North Shore players getting their names called. Windsor Grade 12 quarterback Ty Marshall led the way, earning the offensive MVP award in the AA division. Marshall racked up 22 passing and 12 rushing touchdowns this season while setting Windsor single season records in a number of categories including passing yards, total offence, total touchdowns, passing touchdowns and completions.
Carson’s MacLennan and Blackwell were both named AA offensive all-stars while Windsor defensive back Braden Snelling earned a defensive all-star nod while also picking up the Baden Academic Scholarship. Carson’s Bill was named one of four AA Grade 11 players of the year.
At the AAA level Handsworth’s Dylan Weyell earned an offensive all-star nod at receiver.
