Hurricanes defeated the Dalhousie University Tigers 38-7 in Atlantic Football League semifinal playoff action at MacAdam Field on Saturday afternoon.
The victory puts the Hurricanes in next weekend’s AFL championship game against the UNB Red Bombers, who won their semifinal game 23-22 against last season’s champion UNB Saint John Seawolves.
There is a football adage that applies to late-season games – you must run to win. On a blustery November day with winds whipping around the stadium, it was apparent from the outset that Holland College would rely on its ground game. On their first possession, ‘Canes running back Dave Clark capped a drive with a 36-yard touchdown run. Phil Lanthier added the convert, and the Hurricanes took an early 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Dalhousie conceded a 2-point safety on a third-and-long situation with the ball on their own 5 yard line. Minutes later, it was a big defensive play by the Tigers that set up what would prove to be their only score of the afternoon. A blocked punt gave them the ball on the Holland College 6 yard line and running back Greg Pelly took it into the end zone to make it a 9-7 game.
A determined Hurricanes offence took up the challenge. Quarterback Nick Hunsley connected with Jared Sutton on a 20-yard pass that put the ‘Canes in the red zone. On the next play, Clark blasted through a huge hole and into the end zone for the touchdown. With a 16-7 lead and momentum on their side, the Hurricanes struck again before the half ended. Jeff Hillier lined up a slot right and took the pitch on a sweep left, galloping 60 yards untouched for the major. A failed point-after left the score at 22-7 at the half.
In the third quarter, strong defensive play by Holland College once again forced Dalhousie to concede a safety. Choosing to kick off, the Tigers put the ball in the hands of the ever-dangerous Demetrius Ferguson, who took it right up the middle of the field on a 70-yard return for the touchdown. The convert gave the ‘Canes a commanding 31-7 lead.
The wounded Tigers attempted one last attack before the quarter ended, but it was the Hurricanes defence who earned their stripes when they stopped them in their tracks at the Holland College 5 yard line. Taking over on downs, the ‘Canes were quick to deliver the final blow to the Tigers’ hopes. Once more, the big offensive line produced a truck-sized gap and Clark was off to the races, going 105 yards for his third major of the day.
The fourth quarter produced no scoring as the Hurricanes played shut-down defence. The final score was 38-7. The APM Construction Services players of the game were Dave Clark on offense and Wildens Sertyl on defense. Clark ran for 250 yards on just 14 carries, giving him 1,382 rushing yards on the season. Sertyl, an outside linebacker out of Malden High School in Massachusetts, was in on half-a-dozen tackles and played a big role in shutting down the Tigers’ offence.
The AFL Championship game against the UNB Red Bombers is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at MacAdam Field. When the two teams met two weeks ago in Charlottetown, UNB pulled off a 28-26 win, serving notice that the championship final should be a battle from start to finish.
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