Fighting Irish quarterback Parker Orr and Sun Devils wide-receiver Anthony de Albuquerque have grown up together on the same street in Delta.
The Vancouver College Fighting Irish and the South Delta Sun Devils square off Saturday for the B.C. high school Triple A football championship and, on some level, bragging rights for Enderby Avenue in Tsawwassen.
Vancouver College Grade 12 quarterback Parker Orr lives there. Across the street and three doors down is the home of South Delta Grade 12 receiver Anthony de Albuquerque.
They’ve known each other since de Albuquerque moved to the area in Grade 4. They went to elementary school together. Their houses are 60 steps apart — “we’ve done the math,” Orr says — and they’ve played catch on occasion across the street from their respective front yards.
Two-time reigning champion Vancouver College (12-0) and South Delta (11-1) squaring off at 3:30 p.m. is the main event Saturday at B.C. Place. The Double A title game goes at 12:30 p.m., and features the reigning-champion Vernon Panthers (9-1) against North Vancouver’s Windsor Wolves (9-1), and overall proceedings kick off at 10 a.m. with the East West All-Star Game.
“When was the last time I talked to Anthony? Last night,” Orr said earlier this week. “I’ve been talking to him all season. I’m not going to be giving away our game play or anything, but I’ll keep talking to him.
“Our families are pretty tight. I’m pretty sure that our parents will set up some sort of dinner after the game. It won’t be weird. There’s bragging rights up for grabs, but it won’t be weird.”
De Albuquerque added: “I’ll talk to him after the game. I just hope I have the better part of that conversation.”
Orr and de Albuquerque started out playing together in flag football. There are several players on the Sun Devils’ side that Orr lined up with growing up. Orr enrolled at Vancouver College in Grade 7.
“It is different than playing against most teams,” Orr said of facing the Sun Devils. “I have been playing with these guys since I was so young, so I’m used to being out there on the field with them more than any other team that we’d play.
“I’m sure they’d say the same about me. I’m sure they’d say they know my tendencies.”
Vancouver College carries a 37-game win streak into Saturday, going without a loss since 2021, when they were upset 27-24 in the provincial quarterfinals on their home turf at O’Hagan Field by Coquitlam’s Centennial Centaurs.
Vancouver College handed South Delta its lone loss of the current campaign on Oct. 5, beating the visiting Sun Devils 31-10. South Delta led the contest 10-9 in the fourth quarter, and head coach Ray Moon is using that as a rallying point with his group.
“We know that we’ve been able to stay with them,” he explained. “We just have to make sure that we’re able to finish.”
South Delta also comes into Saturday with a momentum turbo boost, thanks to a last-minute 43-42 triumph over Abbotsford’s W.J. Mouat Hawks in last Saturday’s semifinals at B.C. Place.
On a second-and-10 from the W.J. Mouat 10-yard line with just 20 seconds left, South Delta Grade 12 QB Dominic Dumas found younger brother Damian on a screen pass and the Grade 11 running back scampered along the right side for a touchdown that put South Delta down 42-41.
Instead of kicking the single point and tying the game, Moon opted for the two-point try, and this time Dominic rolled to his right and hit Damian with a pass in the corner of the end zone for the winning score.
Damian, who also plays defensive back, was picked the most valuable player of the Triple A season 10 days ago.
“They’re unstoppable,” de Albuquerque said of the Dumas brothers. “We’ve seen it. We have the best running back in the league and, if not the best quarterback, one of the best. It’s hard to stop them both.
“Last week brought us together as a team and showed ourselves how good we are and how much work we’ve put in.”
The Fighting Irish advanced last week with a 31-8 win over Surrey’s Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers.
Vancouver College blanked North Vancouver’s Carson Graham Eagles 21-0 to win the Triple A crown last season.
Meanwhile, in Double A, Vernon downed Prince George’s College Heights Cougars 36-14 in last week’s semis, while Windsor got by Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves, 44-28.
Vernon Grade 12 QB/defensive back Cole Budgen was picked Double A most valuable player this season. Windsor pivot Emmet Ward, who’s also in Grade 12, was named most valuable offensive player.
Vernon beat Nanaimo’s John Barsby Bulldogs 23-22 in last season’s finale to claim their third Double A banner since 2018.