It seemed appropriate Thin Lizzy鈥檚 1976 classic 鈥淭he Boys Are Back in Town鈥� was playing during the Sounders鈥� warm-up this weekend.
Howe Sound Secondary鈥檚 football team has been on the road for its games until now.
鈥淧eople were surprised we were back around,鈥� head coach Jim Errington said.
On Saturday the team put the home field advantage to good use, hosting Argyle Secondary鈥檚 Pipers from North Vancouver in an exhibition game to make up for a hole in the schedule.
The Sounders made an impact early, stopping the Pipers on the first drive.
When they took over possession, they quickly moved the ball upfield and managed a major on their first possession, courtesy of Lukas Nering, who also ran in a two-point convert to give Howe Sound an 8-0 lead.
The Sounders generated most of the offence out of the backfield, with Nering handling much of the load, while quarterback Michael Lane added 40 yards rushing. He was six for 14 on passing.
Nering added another touchdown in the second quarter and one in the third. He went on to rush for 146 yards on 15 carries, reel in three catches for 48 yards and make six tackles on the defensive side.聽
鈥淔rom last year, there鈥檚 no comparison,鈥� Errington said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 incredible.鈥�
On one play, Nering looked like he lost the ball but managed to roll it around his back Harlem Globetrotter-style and regain his grip, bounce off a couple of tacklers and still gained the first down.
鈥淭hink they鈥檙e gonna play 鈥楽weet Georgia Brown?鈥欌�� one of the officials joked after the play.
The Pipers did manage to get on the board in the third quarter to bring the score to 22-8.
As the game wore on, though, the Sounders spread the ball around more in the backfield, while guard George Lewis, tackled Adrian Binner and the rest of the line provided key blocking. Damien Joseph added a final rushing touchdown to end the scoring at 28-8. In all, the offence generated 301 yards on 46 plays.
The team also looked solid defensively, allowing only 110 yards total on 31 plays, with sacks by Karl Wiegand and Will Lea-Smith and an interception by Scott Friestadt.
Errington said his team has been 鈥渄oing some good things鈥� and is pleased, especially in light of challenges, to make sure he can field a team, which back in June looked like 27 players, four coaches and two trainers. During the season, though, the Sounders were down to 20 players, one coach at times and two trainers, but Errington credits the commitment to the game of those who stayed.聽
鈥淭he group we鈥檝e got is pretty sold on it,鈥� he said.
The coach also gives particular credit to parents who have gotten involved.
鈥淲e had the smallest group of parents we鈥檝e ever had, and I tell you they鈥檙e doing some incredible things,鈥� Errington said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e involved with their kids.鈥�
So far, the team has racked up wins in the exhibition season against Valleyview in Kamloops and Pemberton in the Black Tusk Bowl. They lost 35-26 to Pitt Meadows, only just moved from AA to tier two ball at the start of the season, in exhibition, then dropped one to Pitt 35-6 in the first league game, a tough loss in which Nering still managed to rack up more than 100 yards rushing.
The Sounders will be back at home this Saturday afternoon at Howe Sound Secondary to host Timberline from Campbell River.聽
