Ryan Gallo felt tears welling up in his eyes as he watched Chilliwack Huskers running back Ben Skerrett get mobbed by his teammates.
After a enduring an 0-10 season in 2010, Gallo finally found out what winning is all about Saturday afternoon at Masich Place Stadium.
"I was almost crying at the end of it, just being in Prince George and winning one," said Gallo, 18, a native of Prince George now in his second season at defensive back for the Huskers.
Chilliwack scored three touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to rally from a 14-0 deficit and defeat the Kamloops Broncos 19-14 in Saturday's B.C. Junior Football Conference preseason matchup.
Gallo, a former D.P. Todd Trojan, joined the celebration on the field as Huskers' quarterback Adann Hendrickson of Maple Ridge turned what seemed certain defeat into a remarkable Chilliwack victory.
A Huskers team that had nothing going right for it offensively for most of the game discovered some life with 2:12 left when Hendrickson, on sheer determination, ran 18 yards into the end zone, leaving three Kamloops tacklers grasping air. The convert was blocked, but Kamloops was called on an offside penalty, setting up a two-point convert, which also failed.
The ensuing Broncos drive stalled, which left them pinned deep in their own territory. Kamloops punter Aaron Smit's kick was partially blocked, and the Broncos also got called for unnecessary roughness, resulting in Chilliwack with the ball on the Kamloops 26 yard line. On the next play, Hendrickson saw Ben Skerrett bolting up the sideline and hit him with a perfect pass to score with 1:19 to play. Travis Mackie's two-point dive was stopped short and the Huskers trailed by two.
After a long, wind-aided kickoff from Gabe Marshalok that pushed the Broncos into another hole, they were forced to punt again. Chilliwack took over on the Kamloops 18 yard stripe and Skerrett carried the ball 13 yards to set up one more play with 11.3 seconds to play.
The snap from centre ended up on the turf and Hendrickson quickly picked it up and used his athleticism to avoid getting tackled long enough to lob a short pass into the arms of Skerrett, who run it in the winning TD with no time left.
"We had those fears of doubt at the beginning, but guys like Adann made some big plays and the guys just kept going and, luckily, things turned out for us," said the 21-year-old Skerrett. "At first I wasn't sure because I saw him running and I wasn't sure how the ball would go, but it was perfect placement and I made the catch.
"Even though this win doesn't count for anything, it counts in our hearts."
Mike McMaster, who played high school ball for the Prince George Polars, gave his hometown fans plenty to cheer about playing for Kamloops in the first quarter. The 20-year-old running back combined with former Polar Derek Apps, who ran back the opening kickoff 51 yards, to move the Broncos into scoring position. After a series of carries, McMaster got them to the two yard line, but consecutive penalties left the Broncos with a first-and-20 situation. That didn't faze quarterback Jesse Neufeld, who hooked with Adam Nesbitt for a TD pass-and-run up the middle.
"I wanted to come out and do better in front of my hometown, and I think next time might be a little bit different," said McMaster, who won the BCJFC title last season with the Vancouver Island Raiders. "We know what we have to work on and we'll get better at it and next time it will hopefully be a better game for us.
"It meant a lot to me coming here to play and see all the fans out to watch us play. I hadn't returned kicks since high school and they've been making fun of me in practice because I've dropped a lot, but today I was perfect."
Bad field position forced Chilliwack to give up a safety later in the quarter and PGSS alumni Wes Black added another two points making a tackle in the end zone to give the Broncos an 11-0 lead at the half. Smit hit a 28-yard field goal to put the Broncos ahead 14-0 with 8:51 left in the third quarter.
"Going into halftime we talked about not hanging your head and not giving up until the end and persevering to overcome adversity and that's what they did, I'm really proud of the guys today," said Huskers head coach Luke Acheson. "This team needed a win. We're talking about changing the culture here and this is step 1."
Chilliwack opens its season at home next Sunday against the Westshore (Victoria) Rebels, while the Broncos will host the Okanagan Sun.
Broncos offensive lineman Brad Paakkonen said his team won't wallow in Saturday's defeat, but will learn from it.
"We had plenty of opportunities to win the game, especially in the first quarter, but we just couldn't put it in the end zone," said Paakkonen, a former Kelly Road Roadrunner. "We wanted to stay up and put the pedal to the metal but we just couldn't execute it."
