Another week, another win for the Vancouver College Fighting Irish. This time, the Irish had to fight hard to the end as the Carson Graham Eagles gave them all they could handle in a 21-8 Irish victory.
The Eagles are known for their Air raid attack, but today, their defense held their team in the game till late in the fourth quarter. Defensive coordinator Pooya Dourandish came up with a great game plan to slow down an Irish Offense that has been piling up points all year.
As good as that plan was, the Irish staff always came prepared with a plan of their own, and it showed early in the game. After a perfect punt had the Irish pinned at their own one-yard line, it was time for some history to be made.
Irish running back Ryder Quintana took an inside handoff in his own endzone. The star hit the hole inside formed by the Irish line, quickly cut left, and accelerated, showcasing his blazing speed and leaving the Eagle's defense in his dust for a record-breaking 99-yard rushing TD. Quintana broke the previous record in which he held himself, a 91-yard run set last year vs. Notre Dame.
Both defenses dominated play for the rest of the half until Tristan Perdido capped off a long Irish drive and punched in a three-yard rushing score. That major gave the Irish a 14-0 lead going into halftime.
Late in the third quarter, the Eagles had the ball and desperately needed to put up points. The Eagles finally put together a well-balanced 12-play 60-yard drive and a two-point conversion to make it 14-8 with just over nine minutes left in the fourth.
The Eagles got a huge stop and held VC on their next drive. The Eagles had the ball back in their own territory with the chance to take the lead on the seemingly invincible Irish. With all the momentum, the game came down to a fourth and eight.
The Eagles dropped back to pass. The Irish, who were showing a pressure look pre-snap, dropped out of the look, and as the Eagles threw a slant over the middle, the ball was batted down at the line of scrimmage, and the pass was incomplete; Irish ball.
With the clock dwindling down, VC got the ball on the Eagles 32-yard line. Five plays later, Jackson Farac scored for Vc to extend the lead to 21-8.
The Eagles refused to give up. On the ensuing kickoff, Célyan Vermeulen returned the kick 69 yards deep into Irish territory. With little time on the clock, the Irish defense stood tall once again and stuffed Carson Graham on fourth and goal to seal the game for good, 21-8.
Irish Head Coach Bryan Chiu loved his team's effort but knows corrections need to be made for the post-season.
"I appreciate our boy's effort today. However, we need to stop making mental mistakes. Those errors will come back to bite us in the playoffs if we don't correct them immediately. Once again, our defense came through for us by holding Carson to only eight points. Full credit to Coach Brady and his staff for having their boys battle the way they did."
Eagles Head Coach Brian Brady wishes his team could have a couple of plays back.
'I'm proud of how physical our guys played today, but ultimately 2-3 plays away from the result we wanted.'
Vancouver College will look to finish the regular season with a perfect record if they win in their season finale next Saturday against the Notre Dame Jugglers.
