The Royal City Hyacks got off to a roaring start in three separte divisions in the Lower Mainland community football league.
The junior bantam Hyacks opened with a 27-6 win over the Richmond Raiders at Minoru Park on Sunday.
The 12-and 13-year-old Hyacks defence had a productive day, scoring a safety and picking off one Raider pass. Jeff Lugtu led the team in tackles.
The 10-and 11-year-old peewee Hyacks also beat Richmond, jumping out to a 26-0 second-half lead before coasting to a 26-14 win.
Sammy Sidhu rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns as Royal City scored on four of its first five possessions.
Nathan Hardwick ran for 72 yards on just three carries to score the other New West major. Christian Roadilla also rambled for 37 yard on five carries for the winners.
Safety Phoenix Bourrier made numerous tackles on defence for Royal City.
Defensive lineman Kinsale Philip made his presence felt with a quarterback sack.
In the atom division, the Royal City orange squad easily handled the Westside Warriors 41-12 at Carnarvon Park in Vancouver, while the Royal City black team fell 24-0 to the Raiders in Richmond.
Scoring touchowns for the orange team were Lucas Burton, Tyler McRae and Russell Moir.
Quarterback Andros Dancy also completed a pair of passes for two-point conversions to Moir.
The defence was led by the outstanding line play of Eric Birzneck, who made a number of key tackles and forced a Warrior fumble.
J'Kaila Powell made several outstanding blocks on the offensive side of the ball.
This Sunday, the Royal City flag football team, and the peewee and junior bantam Hyack teams will host Coquitlam in their respective home openers at Ryall Park in Queensborough.
Games get underway at 9 a.m. with the six-and seven-year-olds, taking on the Coquitlam Crushers.
The new Royal City Hyacks cheerleading squad will make its debut on the sidelines for the games.
