Sports

Goliaths outshined by Leaside

JIM HUMPHREY/TOWN CRIER
STOPPING THE RUN: Leaside rusher Yann Dika-Balotoken is tracked down by East York’s Michael Arsenault, #7, and Kyle Emerson during senior boys football action Oct. 8.

Hometown heroes schooled at Friday Night Lights 35-7 by rival Lancers

On a feted night when East York Goliaths should have been in the spotlight, Leaside left them in the dark 35-7.

Friday Night Lights electrified a crowd of 3,000 students, teachers and residents Oct. 8 in the fifth annual senior boys gridiron event.

The turnout was an awesome spectacle, Goliaths head coach Glenn Edwards said, but the result was the opposite.

“They’ve had a couple of bad games in the past. They’ll put it away and get on to the next game,” he said. “There’s no reason for me to be critical.

“They will be more critical of themselves than I can be at this point.”

Down 8-0 at the end of the first, the second quarter featured a key interception by Goliaths Dylan Howell, but it did not translate into extra points as quarterback Colin McAnsh could not connect with receivers.

Part of the reason, Edwards said, was the lengthy Lancers possession.

“The defence was on the field for a long time and that did have an effect on our offence. They seemed to stutter a bit,” he said. “We’re going have to look at them to see what we can do.”

There were highlights, though, as Jonathan Abbiew picked off Lancers QB Michael Gallagher deep in Goliaths territory and stampeded to the opposite endzone for a six pack. The ensuing single was converted.

That was the only blemish Gallagher would see, as the play-caller out-manoeuvred East York’s secondary, Lancers coach Jim Georgiadis said.

“He threw the ball well, guys ran good routes, he had good protection and when he didn’t have good protection he managed to scramble and get yards, helping himself out,” he said.

The ease Leaside had was surprising.

“We knew we were going to be in tough against East York,” he said. “They’re usually pretty strong at home, I guess tonight we executed really well on offence.”

Still there are great expectations for a team comprised of the city junior champs from two years ago.

“We’re going to continue to improve each and every week,” Georgiadis said. “That’s the been our whole model for the year. Hopefully we’ll peak at the right time.”

For the Goliaths, they had an exhibition game against Marc Garneau Cougars Oct. 14 — a 40-0 victory — and a crucial match on Oct. 19 against Lawrence Park.

A win on the road would improve the playoff chances for last year’s South Region finalists.

“As I told them before we came out here, from a coaching standpoint we have all the plays,” Edwards said. “They’ve been successful in the past, they will be successful in the future.”

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