The dream is still alive for the New Westminster Hyacks senior football team, despite Saturday's nightmare 35-20 loss at Vancouver College.

The Hyacks fumbled away their opportunity to win their first conference championship in school history by dropping the ball five times in the first half and another key bungle with 3:35 left in the game as the offense was driving down the field in an attempt to tie the game at 28. The Fighting Irish converted that turnover into a touchdown with 36 seconds left, punching the nail in New West's first loss of the season.

But that tarnish to their previously unblemished record may be the Hyacks' silver lining said head coach Farhan Lalji. "Sometimes when you win so much, you forget how to lose."

Getting over Saturday's loss will be a test of his team's character, said Lalji, something they'll need in spades to continue their march to their ultimate goal, a provincial championship.

"All our goals are still in front of us," said Lalji. "It's all about winning the provincial championship and that hasn't changed."

But first they'll have to figure out what went so horribly wrong at O'Hagan Field, something even their coach was at a loss to explain after he addressed his players in the dressing room.

"We should have won the football game," said Lalji. "We just gave it to them."

Six times in the first half they gave up possession of the ball to the Irish, five of them fumbles, an uncharacteristic development that disturbed their coach.

"We coach ball protection all the time," said Lalji. "We've not been perfect this year, but of all the things we've done wrong, turnovers were not one of them."

Tough defense by the front line limited the damage; the Hyacks headed for the dressing room at half time down 21-7.

But before some of the team's star players, including running back Vivie Bojilov, receiver Daniel English and quarterback Torsten Jaccard, could get there, they were intercepted by Lalji for a pep talk.

"I told them 'we need you,'" said Lalji of the impromptu huddle. "'We can't win if you can't make those plays.'"

They responded. On the Hyacks' first play from scrimmage in the second half, Bojilov broke through the Irish defense and romped 73 yards up the right sideline for a touchdown.

Running back Brent Fletcher made a clutch five yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter to convert a fourth down and keep a nine-minute drive going that culminated with a two-yard run into the end zone by Warren Reece. The Hyacks were within a point, 21-20.

But when backup quarterback Regan Eberding bobbled the snap for the point-after, the miscue seemed to take some of the sting from the Hyacks' comeback.

Meanwhile, the punishing Vancouver College offensive line was starting to exact a toll. With so many of the Hyacks playing both offense and defense, they were getting tired.

Irish star running back Garret Sanvido, who was playing for the first time in almost a month after suffering a foot injury Oct. 2, started finding holes where there hadn't been any earlier in the game. After his team was twice pushed back by penalties, he broke a 28-yard run to the Hyacks' two-yard line on third down then punched it over the goal line three plays later to pad the Irish advantage to eight. Two Hyack defenders were slow to get up on the play; defensive tackle Mohit Johal had to be helped off the field by teammates.

"We knew we were going to have to work for it, and that means it gets physical," said Lalji. "(The Irish) were going nowhere along the ground but all of a sudden they start to get momentum and then the players start to believe in what they're doing."

Still, the Hyacks weren't out of it. They'd proven a knack for pulling out last-minute victories earlier in the season.

But when Bojilov was stripped of the ball with just over three minutes to go, their fate was sealed.

As the Irish celebrated their win, the Hyack players walked off the field battered, physically and emotionally. Johal was supported by two teammates. Bojilov was limping. Jaccard was in tears.

But they're not beaten, said Lalji. "The guys are going to have to get over this and come back to work. I'm not happy about how we lost that game, but when you go into the last game of the season eight and one overall, you have to think you'd had a pretty good season."

Just not perfect anymore.

• Saturday's loss dropped the Hyacks to a tie with defending Subway Bowl champions Terry Fox for third in the provincial rankings. The Irish moved up to second.

• The Hyacks host 1-3 Earl Marriot at Mercer Stadium on Friday with a solid chance to finish in second place in the western conference. That would earn them a bye through the first round of playoffs, and an extra week to heal Saturday's bruises. But to do that, Vancouver College will also have to beat their crosstown rivals, Notre Dame.

If the Jugglers upset the Irish, the Hyacks could still get second, though, depending on a complicated formula of points for and against.

• Hyacks defensive tackle Alex Saavedra had to be taken from the field in an ambulance after he suffered a broken fibula and tibula in his left leg late in the fourth quarter. He was scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday to have a metal rod inserted into the leg.