Last season, Daniel Stratton and Caleb Cruse didn't win a single football game.
This year, they didn't know how to lose.
Together, they formed a lethal combination on the field Saturday at Masich Place Stadium. With Cruse throwing the ball and Stratton catching, there was no stopping the Prince George Green Axemen. They dethroned the Vanderhoof Vikings, winning 24-18 in Saturday's Prince George Minor Football Association junior bantam championship.
In a game decided by converts, the Vikings gave the Axemen major headaches in a game that decided who will represent the North in the B.C. Community Football Association final Nov. 13 in Kamloops. Just when it appeared the Axemen were about to take control, the Vikings found ways to prolong the suspense.
Stratton set the tone early with his first touchdown on the first possession for the Axemen. With the ends of his helmet chin strap sticking straight up like horns, the 13-year-old Axemen running back mimicked the stride of a gazelle on a 50-yard gallop into the end zone.
His second major eight minutes into the third quarter sunk the Vikings' ship. Cruse's powerful arm overcame blustery crosswinds and he fired a strike right into Stratton's hands, a pass-and-run that covered 55 yards. The Axemen made the two-point convert with a bit of trickery as Stratton and executed a reverse to allow Laing to run against the grain across the goal line untouched, giving Prince George a 24-12 lead.
"This year we had the talent to win it and we just worked as hard as we could because you're not going to win if you don't," said Stratton. "Our defence was on fire, mowing them down. Those guys can smash."
See Monday's Citizen for more
