The Centennial Centaurs varsity football team is bringing American-style entertainment to its 2022 season home opener on Sept. 16 against Vancouver College.
Not only will the 7 p.m. game be a rematch of last season’s stunning 27-24 playoff upset of the previously undefeated Fighting Irish, it will also be the first time the Centaurs play under the lights at its own field after the completion last spring of a new $3.6-million turf facility right next to Centennial Secondary.
For more than 20 years, the team played its home games at the grass field across Poirier Street that isn’t equipped with lights, as well as Percy Perry Stadium in Town Centre Park.
To celebrate the occasion in true NFL fashion, the Seattle Seahawks are bringing its Blue Friday Night Lights program to help entertain fans before and during the game.
Former star linebacker K.J. Wright, who retired on July 27 after an 11-year career with the Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders, will be on hand for the coin toss.
The team’s mascot, Blitz, as well as the Blue Thunder drumline and members of Seahawk Dancers cheerleading squad, will bring the energy and noise along the sidelines.
Several members of the BC Lions will also be in attendance.
While the Centaurs ultimately fell 19-0 to Chilliwack’s G.W. Graham Grizzlies in last fall’s semifinals at BC Place Stadium, the team’s success was a reversal of years of futility and struggle since it last won a championship in 2009.
Centennial will face the first test of its spring and late summer conditioning and practice programs on Sept. 9, when it travels to Kelowna to play an exhibition game against Mt. Boucherie at the Apple Bowl.
Crosstown-rival Terry Fox Ravens (Port Coquitlam) will open its pre-season Sept. 2 in North Vancouver with a game against the Carson Graham Eagles.
After a perfect 7-0 record in the 2021 regular season and a semifinal win over Notre Dame, Terry Fox lost its bid for a championship when it lost 36-33 to G.W. Graham in the final.
The Raven’s first home test will be Sept. 9, at Percy Perry Stadium, against South Delta.
