99-yard fumble return earns Surrey football program $3,000
Published 1:30 pm Friday, October 2, 2026
The Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers football program recently won a $3,000 grant to buy football equipment.
A 99-yard touchdown play was chosen as the Week 3 NFL Canada Way to Play Award winner. With the win comes the cash prize. The video was also featured on TSN.ca in a special segment with NFL pundit, and North Delta’s own, Davis Sanchez.
LT varsity head coach Michael Carter told the Cloverdale Reporter he’s been submitting videos to NFL Canada for years in an effort to win the cash and it finally paid off.
Carter submitted a video of T.J. Hudon—a Panther linebacker—running a fumble 99 yards down the field for a touchdown. Ultimately, the fumble-six was the difference in the team’s 28-22 win over Vancouver Island’s Belmont Secondary School Sept. 18.
“It was pretty cool for TJ to be on national TV,” Carter said. “The equipment grant is going to come in handy because it’s expensive to run a program. Definitely welcomed.”
He said the play turned the game’s momentum around.
“They had a big long drive going down the field, down to our 1-yard line, and one of the kids punched the ball out and TJ jumped on it and goes 99 yards. It really flipped the script in the game.”
Hudon, a Grade 11, also plays on offense in a tight end/slot receiver role.
“He’s a good kid and he’s a good football player,” Carter noted. “He’s in his fourth year in the program and he’s really emerged as a bit of leader—a guy we rely on on both sides of the ball and special teams—and he’s become a big part of the football program.”
According to TSN.ca, “Each week during the season one submitted video is chosen and featured on TSN.ca and in a special segment during the NFL broadcast live on CTV.”
The $3,000 equipment grant is courtesy of Football Canada.
Hudon’s award-winning play can be found on tsn.ca/nfl.