Caleb Cruse and the Duchess Park Condors have secured a berth in the junior varsity high school football P.G. Bowl.
The Grade 10 quarterback for the Condors led his team to a dominating 36-6 win over the Nechako Valley Vikings on Thursday under a steady rain coming down on Masich Place Stadium.
“Our offence just controlled the game,” said Condors head coach Michael Rositano. “Caleb Cruse is just a phenomenal quarterback for us. He’s got a great sense of awareness on the field. You send him a play and he runs it.”
Cruse was second among the double-A B.C. high school athletics association junior varsity quarterbacks prior to last night’s game with 20 completions in 20 attempts for 414 yards in three games. He had passed for 11 touchdowns and was picked off once.
Cruse also lined up at safety for the Condors in the semifinal.
Rositano said his quarterback wasn’t the only player to stand out.
“It was just team work,” said Rositano. “The guys came out intense and they knew what they had to do and they got her done. The offensive line led by Matt Kelley just dominated Vanderhoof and our running backs TJ Kyriakos and Daniel Stratton just pounded the ball and then our backups came in and ran the ball great.
“We have a lot of weapons and a lot of good players that we can rotate players in,” he added.
Condors tight-end Brady Martin had two touchdowns while Caleb Campbell scored another in the fourth quarter to cap off the win.
The victory put the Condors into the junior varsity P.G. Bowl at Masich next Thursday, 6 p.m.
The Condors will face the winner of Thursday’s other semifinal the Prince George secondary Polars after they romped over the Kelly Road Roadrunners 36-0.
It didn't take the Polars (5-0) long before they grabbed the lead. Tyrell Laing returned the opening kickoff 60 yards to put the Polars up early. From that point on the offence ran the ball down the mucky, rain-soaked field as four different players found the end zone for touchdowns. The Polars other touchdown was scored on defence when a tipped ball fell into nose-guard Nick Vonbeiker's waiting arms and he scampered about 15 yards for the score.
The Polars and Condors completed the season ranked one-two in the northern conference among junior football teams, respectively.
During the regular season, the Polars handed Duchess Park its only loss of the season, a 28-20 defeat last month. Rositano said his team hasn’t forgotten and, not to disrespect the Roadrunners, but the Condors really want the rematch.
“We want them bad,” said Rositano. “They’re all friends, there’s a mutual respect between the two teams. We know each other and we just can’t wait to face each other in the P.G. Bowl next week.”
No matter what happens in the P.G. Bowl both teams will be guaranteed a spot in the first round of the provincial playoffs, Nov. 7-8 in either Kamloops or Vernon.
