Normally, two consecutive losses to start a provincial championship tournament is a bad sign. In the case of the Prince George Titans, back-to-back defeats was a precursor of much better things to come.
The Titans, a team of 10- and 11-year-olds from the Prince George Minor Football Association, claimed a B.C. banner in Kamloops on the weekend. They grabbed gold in the B.C. Community peewee division after they shook off their initial setbacks and won both of their playoff contests.
The provincial title holds extra significance for the Titans. According to Brad Johnson, one of the coaches, this year's B.C. tournament marked the first time a Prince George peewee club had ever won a single game at the event.
"It's a bit of history," Johnson said.
The Titans, who emerged as the top team in the PGMFA during the season, started provincials with losses to the Kelowna Lions (20-18) and the Victoria Hitmen (20-12). All three teams, however, advanced to the single-elimination playoff round, which used a shootout format.
As the No. 3 seed, the Titans were on the field first, with the Hitmen as the opposition. The Victoria club had won six out of the previous seven B.C. peewee championships but that meant nothing once the shootout started.
In the shootout, each team started on the other club's 20-yard line and had one series of downs to gain 10 yards. If successful, the club on offence got another series to try to put the ball in the end zone.
The Titans were on offence first and wasted no time in scoring. On the very first play, they ran a reverse to Kurtis Vohar.
"He was untouched," Johnson said. "It was fantastic. He went all the way in from 20 yards."
The Hitmen then got their chance to score but the fired-up Titans stopped them on three downs.
With the win, the Titans moved on to face the Lions. Prince George again started with the ball and scored. When the Lions got their turn, they bounced back from a sack that left them needing 26 yards for a first down. But, on second down of their second series, Issak Lank - the smallest player on the Titans roster - refused to let a rushing Kelowna quarterback past him and delivered a huge tackle that knocked the Lions pivot out of the game. On their last play, the Lions threw into the end zone but Matt Norberg of the Titans knocked the ball out of the air and the Prince George celebration was on.
"Everyone was crying," Johnson said. "I was picking (the players) up and it was very emotional."
Johnson said the key moment for the Titans was the reverse for the touchdown by Vohar in the shootout against the Hitmen. From that point forward, he said the Titans believed they could claim the championship.
"They never backed down," Johnson said. "When we scored that touchdown untouched, that was huge for them but they just gave 100 per cent and that's all we asked for. We knew they had the tools to win."
Other members of the Titans are Logan Ronahan, Connor Sherlock, Dayton Pitman, Jason Kragt, Keaton Conniff, Noah Lank, Eric Legault, Haven Dunphy, Damien Talarico, Colton Maftin, Isaac Slavik, Oliver Morrow, Bradyn Johnson, Hayden Keller, Kyle Kemp, Derek Gelowitz and Noah Maki. The other coaches are Rob Sherlock, Brett Morrow and Lonnie Legault.
For provincials, Vohar was selected as the team's most valuable player and Slavik received the most sportsmanlike award.
