The Aldergrove Community Secondary School Totems’ senior rugby squad is on its way to the provincials. The Totems defeated the Southridge Storm 19-15 in nail-biting fashion last Thursday to secure a place in the Fraser Valley finals and the provincial tournament.
The Fraser Valley semifinal, Aldergrove’s last home game, started out with both teams hungry to punish their opponents. Aldergrove’s Nick Waterman made a vicious run up the center to start the Totems off. Despite tough defence from Southridge, they couldn’t stop the Storm’s forwards from making some great hard yards. A quick change of direction from scrumhalf Jason Esbensen saw Cody Nicholls in open space. A cheeky chip kick over the top followed to put Aldergrove was on the board, but Connor Hunter was inches wide on the kick from the sideline.
The remainder of the first half saw the majority of play in Southridge’s end. Aldergrove put together some exceptional runs, including a clean break from Josh Kwiatkowski, but every time they marched in, they were pushed back. Southridge battled against the Totems’ no-nonsense defence and managed to score a try with a push right through the middle.
The second half of the match saw a revived Totems squad with winning in their sights. Hard runs by Josh Kwiatkowski and Ryan Swann set the Southridge defense on their back foot, paving the way for Connor Hunter to slide through a small gap. With some fine footwork, he drove for the line before passing to Jordan Nickel, who took the ball in. Despite the difficulty of the conversion kick, Hunter sailed it between the posts.
Doug Saunders made his presence known throughout the entire day, earning him the man of the match award. He frequently made try-saving tackles and runs up the middle that put fear in the Southridge backs, including one that started from center and ended up in the far corner with a pass to Nickel, who again had the pace to keep up with the backline and took it in for another try. Hunter showed he can kick from either side of the field and scored the extra points.
Great tackling from wingers Dakota Grizkowsky and Nick Hardwick held Southridge’s outside backs for a time. Southridge found some momentum late, though, and put a nicely-driven try up the center, bringing the score to 19-10 for Aldergrove. The Totems were tested repeatedly and although Henri Donath and Kurtis Winder put up some hard defence, Southridge scored again and Aldergrove led by only four heading into the final minutes.
The coaching staff and fans alike took a deep breath, but Aldergrove regrouped and came back hard. The Totems kept the ball in the opposition’s end and took the win, continuing their quest to keep the Fraser Valley title at ACSS.
Will Foss got the ‘crunch’ award for numerable smashes both in the rucks and open field. Alex Rivard also threw his weight around and put some great sticks in. Nickel received the try of the game for his support of Saunders’ effective but erratic run.
Today will see the Totems head to Semiahmoo to face Rick Hansen and redeem their only loss in league play. The Fraser Valley final will kick off at 3 p.m.