Fumbles stalled an otherwise promising effort on the New Westminster Hyacks tour to California last week.
The varsity Hyacks lost a 33-7 outcome to Citrus Valley High School, a fourth-year RedlandsEast Valley California football program last Friday.
"(Citrus Valley) is a program that is trending. But they didn't overwhelm us speed-wise or sizewise," said Hyacks head coach Farhan Lalji. "But they did wear us down a bit."
The difference was in the California team's overall depth and a couple of weaknesses in the Hyacks' game, said Lalji.
"Truthfully, I think we lost because we fumbled six snaps," Lalji said.
While New Westminster recovered five of those six errors, the dropped balls led to yards lost and eventual turnovers on downs.
Despite the stalled offence, New Westminster had a chance to make a game of it with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter. But an interception and a long runback deep into Hyack terrritory set up one of two late scores for the California school.
New West's only lost fumble came in the third quarter with the Hyacks threatening inside the 30-yard line.
"We were in that game," Lalji said.
Running back Aldrin Asuncion opened the scoring for the Hyacks with a one-yard touchdown run following a long drive engineered by starting quarterback Regan Eberding on the team's second possession.
Citrus Valley came back with two scores of its own to lead 13-7 at half time.
The other hole came in the Hyacks deep secondary, which Citrus Valley exploited for three scores.
The last two scores by Citrus Valley came in the final minutes of the game after New Westminser made liberal roster substitutions.
Eberding rushed for 68 yards on eight carries, while making a team-high 10 tackles on defence.
Tight end Jeremy Wilson had four catches for 82 yards and eight tackles at his defensive end position.
Asuncion garnered 72 yards on 12 carries for New West.
Lalji was particularly pleased with his line and linebackers who stood toe-to-toe with their American counterparts. Much of the defensive secondary also played well.
Individually, Connor Brady and Kevin Sabau started their senior seasons with strong outings, as did two-way offensive lineman and linebacker Jordan Chin.
Lineman Yahia Gomaa also showed up well on both sides of the ball.
"There was a lot to build on, there really was," Lalji added.
"We'll be a lot cleaner and further ahead for having (made the trip to California)."
This Friday, the Hyacks will play its home opening game of the season, renewing an old rivalry with AA South Delta.
The game will also be the first time the two Lower Mainland schools have competed for the highly coveted Kushnir Boot in three seasons.
New Westminster last won the boot rivalry back in 2008.
The exhibition contest will be played under the lights Friday at Mercer Stadium, beginning at 7: 30 p.m.
"South Delta is one of the better AA schools. It will be a pretty good test for a home opener," Lalji added.
