Carson Graham’s one-man wrecking crew doubled in size Saturday as the Eagles scored an 28-21 upset win over South Delta in AA provincial football semifinal action at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium.
A.J. Blackwell has been racking up yards all year — he led the AA tier in rushing with some astronomical stats — and he was impressive again Saturday, but senior fullback Lucas Bill, seldom used as a rusher so far, exploded for a huge game to help push the No. 4-ranked Eagles to a win over the No. 2-ranked Sun Devils.
Bill accounted for all of Carson’s touchdowns on the day, rushing for two, catching one and adding a back-breaking 85-yard kickoff return that sealed the win. Bill ended up with 15 carries for 100 yards after totaling just 13 carries all season before Saturday’s game. Blackwell did his usual outstanding business as well, rushing 25 times for 176 yards.
The Sun Devils actually took the lead early on a 66-yard touchdown on their second play from scrimmage. The Eagles fought back with Bill scoring on a two-yard run and catching a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mo Mohseni to make it 14-7 Eagles at halftime. The game was tied at 21 midway through the fourth quarter when Bill busted it wide open with his kick return score. South Delta marched down the field in response and look poised to tie it up again but fumbled on the one-yard line with a little more than two minutes left, basically bringing the game to an end.
The Eagles will take on the John Barsby Bulldogs in the Subway Bowl championship final Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at BC Place. The two Western Conference foes met once before on Oct. 25 in Nanaimo with Barsby scoring a 21-0 win.
— with files from The Province
