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Earl Marriott Grade 8s win Fraser Valley rugby banner

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Earl Marriott's Tony Hunter runs upfield with the ball during Tuesday's Grade 8 boys Fraser Valley final.

Less than a week after the Earl Marriott Mariners’ senior boys rugby team captured a Fraser Valley championship, the school’s Grade 8 squad repeated the feat, defeating Coquitlam’s Banting Middle School 12-7 Tuesday at South Surrey Athletic Park.

The win capped an impressive season for the young Mariners squad in which they went undefeated; they were 15-0 prior to the Valley final, winning most games in convincing fashion.

In fact, the team had become so used to one-sided victories, Mariners coach Peter Johnston – also the principal at EMS – wondered at times how his team would react to a close, back-and-forth tilt.

“It was a really good test for both sides. We played really well and the boys were finally challenged,” Johnston said.

“But to their credit, they really rose to the occasion.”

Such resilience was evident in the game’s waning moments, when the Mariners – with their senior boys teammates and members of Semiahmoo’s Grade 8 team watching from the sidelines – needed to hold the goal line to prevent a late game-tying score by Banting.

“Banting really came on strong in the last part of the game, and they were on our goal line right until the end, but we were able to hold them off and hold them off,” Johnston said.

“Then we were able to get the ball and kick it out of bounds, and then the final whistle blew.

“The boys were really thrilled. I was surprised, actually, how excited they were to win this one.”

Though he only used 16 players in Tuesday’s victory, Johnston credited his team’s depth for its undefeated run through the Fraser Valley circuit.

“We have a lot of players – we have two Grade 8 teams – and usually we’re able to get everybody in the game, and everybody contributes,” he said.

Johnston gave much of the credit for Marriott’s two Fraser Valley titles – the seniors beat Yale May 19 – to senior boys coach Adam Roberts, who is the school’s rugby program co-ordinator.

“He’s just done a fantastic job with the program, and we have more players and more teams than we’ve ever had – we’re one of the biggest programs in the country,” said Johnston, who coached the senior boys himself in the mid-1990s.

“Semiahmoo has always been the dominant team when it comes to rugby, even going back to when I was a teacher and coach here, but the last few years, the tide seems to be turning a little bit.”