The Hugh Boyd Trojans were dressed as Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde for Halloween. They just didn’t know it.
A week after coming up huge against the No. 1 ranked AA high school football team in the province, the Trojans fell from the unbeaten ranks in a stunning 68-42 loss to the Ballenas Whalers.
The result means the Trojans (4-1) must win their final regular season game Friday in Nanaimo against John Barsby (1-4) to clinch first place in the Western AA Conference or likely slip to third and face a more challenging road in the upcoming provincial playoffs.
It’s not too difficult to predict where the focus will be on the practice field this week.
After pitching a shutout against the high-powered Seaquam Seahawks and surrendering just 21 combined points in four conference games, the Trojans were absolutely lit up by the Whalers.
The Parksville school not only broke a school record with 68 points, but scored on all 10 of its possessions. The visitors took a 48-28 lead into halftime and continued to pour it on over the final two quarters.
Grade 11 quarterback Ben Robinson had the game of his life — completing all nine of his pass attempts for 249 yards and three touchdowns.
He also used his speed on the perimeter to rush for 151 yards and four more touchdowns. Bruising running back Dayton Coles also had a monster evening with 206 yards rushing.
The Trojans desperately tried to make defensive adjustments — burning all three of their first half timeouts on Ballenas scoring drives. However, it didn’t matter where personnel was lined up or what scheme was employed. Neither was going to make-up for a lack of intensity that was evident in practice leading up to the team’s final home game.
“We just could not get these kids off of the cloud from (last week’s win),” sighed head coach Bill Haddow. “There was just no buzz or crackle all week. We told them that after every practice but they were just too happy.
“They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect. We were just not aggressive enough. I don’t know how many times are kids were standing around watching it happen. Still, you can’t make me understand how we can shutout Seaquam and not stop these guys once. I never would have believed that in million years.”
Overshadowed was one of the Trojans’ best offensive games of the season.
Tailback Reace Mok ran for three touchdowns, while quarterback Tyler Moxin connected with Zach Jackson and Robbie Conroy on 65-and-45-yard scoring strikes respectively. Conroy also ran back a kickoff 80-yards for his team’s six major but it was still nowhere near enough to keep up with the Whalers.
“They were a fired up football team and we weren’t,” added Haddow. “Fortunately, we still have destiny in our own hands so maybe this was the way it was supposed to be. If these kids are who they think they are and as we think they are, there should be zero trouble coming out with intensity next Friday.”
