Carson Graham Secondary runs a proud rugby program, and to hear their coaches tell it, there was no way the Eagles were going to lose this year’s senior boys AAA provincial championship final.
For starters, the Eagles were facing the Yale Lions for the second straight season in the title match, with the Abbotsford school claiming the 2016 banner with a 17-0 shutout in last year’s final. Many of the players from that young Carson Graham squad were back for this year’s final, and that shutout scoreline and the bittersweet taste of silver were still fresh in their minds.
“The boys knew,” said Eagles head coach Glen McKinnon. “I could tell just by looking at them. I didn’t really have to say anything to them – they knew that this was a revenge game and we were going to take it to them. There was no way they were going to let Yale do that to them again.”
The second point of pride came from the fact that the same two schools met in the provincial girls AAA final just last week with the Eagles grabbing gold in that matchup. The Carson boys weren’t interested in falling behind their practice-pitch friends.
“They weren’t going to live that one down at school if they lost to Yale when the girls beat them the week before,” said McKinnon with a laugh. “It’s great that we can kind of feed off of each other. We share the practice field most days, we’re both out there on the turf putting in the work.”
The work, and the motivation, all paid off Saturday when the Carson boys topped Yale 31-13 in the AAA final played at Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium.
The Eagles soared into the finals with a 55-0 quarterfinal win over Belmont followed by a 36-7 victory over a tough W.J. Mouat squad in the semifinals. The wins were lopsided but the tough schedule – teams play three full games in four days at provincials – took a toll on the Eagles, knocking out a number of starting players. Carson, however, had the depth to carry on, said McKinnon.
“It speaks to the strength of our team that one guy goes down, the next guy steps up and fills the role. Nothing really changes, we keep moving forward.”
Yale opened the scoring in the final but Carson answered back with a try by Nicholas Gray, converted by Kilick Saxer. Yale went up again 10-7 but the Eagles again rebounded, getting a try from Tyler Wong, one of those super subs, to take a 14-10 lead heading into halftime. Wong’s try followed a gutsy solo effort from Luke Wooldridge who blocked a kick, stole the ball and won a penalty deep in Yale territory. McKinnon said he was screaming for Wooldridge to let the penalty kicker put points on the board but instead Wooldridge did a quick kick and pushed on, starting a move that soon ended in Wong’s try.
McKinnon and Wooldridge had a fun conversation on the sidelines a moment later just after the halftime whistle blew.
“At halftime he was like, ‘Glen, I saw it all in my head. I just saw it all happening, I knew I was going to block it. I just had to tap it,’” recalled McKinnon. “I was like, ‘Hey, OK Bud. You’re lucky we scored. Don’t worry about it, but please don’t do that again.’”
Things got dicey early in the second half when Yale knocked in a penalty to get within one point of the Eagles. Shortly after that the Eagles were playing shorthanded as Wooldridge earned an eight-minute trip to the sin bin. Yale pressed hard, but Carson held firm.
“They were really pressing us, moving the ball wide,” said McKinnon. “I could tell our guys were getting tired. But a couple of those fresh subs I threw on and the boys made the difference.”
Wong finally broke the pressure with a run down the sidelines for his second try of the day, with captain Quentin James adding another score to give the Eagles some breathing room. Dakota Duncan sealed the win with a dashing, daring 20-metre run through traffic just before the final whistle. Saxer kicked the convert – his third of the day – and the Eagles were champions.
James was named to the Commissioner’s 15 all-star team following the match. The Grade 12 student played for Canada’s U18 national team on a tour earlier this season, and during the playoffs he again showed that he is one of the best youth players in the country, said McKinnon.
“Ever since the New Zealand Shield game Quentin stepped it up, took it to the next level, proved why he’s the best player in that age-grade in Canada, and the boys kind of fed off of that,” said McKinnon. “When he’s switched on, you can’t stop him.”
Wong, Saxer and Gray also played huge roles in the final, said McKinnon, with Grade 11 players Ryan Leskiw, Liam Clark, and Wooldridge all stepping up as well.
“I’m so proud of the guys, it was a great team effort,” said McKinnon, who also acknowledged that this season the Eagles were aiming for the AAAA provincials featuring the top four teams in the province. That dream ended with a loss to St. Georges in the Lower Mainland final, but the Eagles made the best of their situation with their spirited AAA run.
“We really wanted that AAAA, but the boys really took that disappointment in stride,” McKinnon said. “Across the board everyone was pulling their weight. There was no one who was just kind of hanging on for the ride, everyone was making the ship go forward.”
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In other AAA rugby action the third-ranked Handsworth Royals were upset 45-21 by sixth-seeded R.E. Mountain Secondary in the provincial Tier 1 quarterfinals but rebounded with wins over South Delta and Elgin Park to finish in fifth place. Callum Macdonald earned a spot on the Commissioner’s 15 all-star team.
At the Tier 2 level, third-ranked Argyle claimed bronze, finishing their tournament with a 35-21 win over Claremont. West Vancouver Secondary also played in the Tier 2 championships, finishing sixth. Argyle’s James Blewman and West Vancouver’s Haiden MacDonald earned Commissioner’s 15 honours.
