The community football season is over in Maple Ridge, as the last team standing has been eliminated.
The Ridge Meadow Knights midget squad lost 30-10 to the Langley Stampeders in the semi-final of the Vancouver Mainland Football League playoffs on Saturday at Samuel Robertson Technical field.
The surprising Stampeders were 4-6 on the regular season, but have gone on to upset three teams favoured to beat them in the playoffs, and will now play for a championship.
The Stampeders scored a touchdown on a play that the Knights players and coaches felt should have been called back for a holding penalty. The controversial non-call made them lose focus, said Knights head coach Jeff Boyce.
“The referees was really getting into the heads of my players.”
But he said the Stampeders, despite their record, were by far the toughest team the 8-2 Knights faced all season. Langley was just the second team to score more than two touchdowns against the Knights.
“It was a good game. They took it to us – they were the better team on the day,” said Boyce.
He returns most of his players for next season. He has coached the core of the team for 10 seasons – since they were atom players – and would love to get them a championship in their final year.
“Next year we’ll probably be just as strong, or stronger,” said Boyce. “We should have a good year.”