Two North Shore teams will be in action while a third will be home resting as the B.C. high school football playoffs get underway this weekend.
The Handsworth Royals earned a surprise second-place showing in the Western Conference in their first season in AAA after many years at the lower AA level. The strong regular season showing earned the Royals a bye in opening round play, putting them through to next weekend's quarterfinals.
In AA play the Carson Graham Eagles come into the playoffs ranked No. 4 in the province and will host a playoff game this Friday at 3:30 p.m. against Abbotsford's Robert Bateman secondary. The Eagles finished off a strong regular season with a 60-46 win over Ballenas Nov. 2, clinching second place in the AA Western Conference with a 5-1 record. Their only loss was a 21-0 defeat on the road in Nanaimo against No. 1-ranked John Barsby secondary.
The senior-heavy Eagles are led on offence by star running back A.J. Blackwell who averaged 202 yards per game while scoring 19 rushing touchdowns in six regular season games.
Windsor secondary also made the AA playoffs after posting a 4-2 record in regular season play. They'll be in tough Friday when they travel to Abbotsford to take on No. 5-ranked Rick Hansen secondary. Game time is 1:30 p.m. at Abbotsford Collegiate.
The Dukes are led by Grade 12 quarterback Ty Marshall, a third-year starter who threw for more than 200 yards per game while adding nearly 60 yards per game on the ground and totaling 19 touchdowns - 14 passing and five rushing - in six regular season games.
