Colburn Pearce had the kind of football game that makes opposing football coaches reach for the hair dye.
He likely stimulated a few gray follicles on the Nechako Valley Vikings side of the field after he destroyed their hopes of winning Friday night's P.G. Bowl B.C. High School Football Association Northern Conference championship.
Pearce ran roughshod over the Vikings, scoring all 28 Condor points in a 28-20 nailbiter at Masich Place Stadium. The Grade 11 running back scored three rushing touchdowns and also ran back an interception return 28 yards to give his team 28-6 lead early in the third quarter.
But with Nechako Valley running back Hunter Brophy and fullback Corbin Brown leading the comeback train, the Vikings made for a scintillating finish but were stopped short of their goal.
Pearce, a Grade 11 player, joined an emotional gathering with the other Condor captains to accept the Matt Pearce Memorial Trophy, renamed this year in honour of Pearce's father, the Condors co-coach, who died suddenly in January of a heart condition at age 48.
"Last year we didn't win it (the Condors finished second) but last year we had a lot of Grade 11s moving up to Grade 12, so we knew we had a really good team and we wanted to come out here and win this one for Matt, but also for a little redemption for the Grade 12s," said Pearce.
"I think he would be pretty proud of us, we kept it going from what he started. We played hard and passed and ran, which is what he liked to see. I scored a lot but a lot it was my teammates, we had good blocking and a good quarterback (Andrew Johnson) who stepped in when our other quarterback (Jacob Cundy) got injured.
"We knew the Vikings were going to run a lot but you can't do much about it because they're so good at it. If you miss a tackle it's tough because it's tough to get Brophy down once he gets going."
The Vikings scored on their first possession nine minutes into the game, driving deep into Condor territory before Brophy took the ball over the goal line from 10 yards out. But with 2:28 left in the first quarter, Pearce powered his way in for an eight-yard TD strike and used his accurate place-kicking foot to boot the convert and give Duchess Park the lead. He added a 60-yard touchdown 10:32 into the second quarter and the Vikings trailed 14-6 at the half.
"That first touchdown really got us fired up but we came out for the second quarter a bit flatfooted and they fed it to us," said Brophy. "If we had a little bit more time it would have been great to see how it would have turned out against such a great team."
Vikings quarterback Alex Winch had his offence moving the ball when he made an ill-advised throw right into Pearce's arms, three minutes into the third quarter and Pearce ran untouched into the end zone to increase the led to 21-6.
Cundy couldn't take the snaps at QB due to a dislocated thumb but led the Condor defence playing middle linebacker. Like the rest of his team, he was in awe of what Pearce did on the field.
"Colburn is a lot like his dad, his dad might tell you that he was better when he was a kid, but as Colburn likes to put it, he's got him beat by a mile." said. "Colburn is good at every sport and trains hard to be this good."
The Vikings had the ball in Condor territory a few minutes later when linebacker Zack Bundock stepped in front of a Winch pass and ran it back 35 yards to the Vikings 25-yard line. A few plays later, Pearce took a swing pass from his Grade 10 quarterback Johnson and was off to the races, scoring a 14-yard major.
The game was delayed for about 30 minutes with two minutes to play in the third quarter when Condors defensive tackle Liz Pelletier collided with a teammate and suffered an neck or back injury and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
The Vikings defence came up big to get back into the game and they had the Condors pinned near their own goal line on the second play of the quarter when Brown picked off a Johnson pass from seven yards out and ran in for the touchdown, giving his team some life, down 28-12.
Then with about four minutes left, set up by a couple of long runs from Brophy, the Vikings made it really interesting. Winch took of out of the pocket and flicked the ball to Brophy, who ran it 12 yards for the major, then got free on a sweep for a two-point convert.
With one last-ditch effort and less than a minute to play, Nechako Valley worked the ball to midfield and Winch chucked the ball downfield to Hunter Westbrook, but Condors defensive back Jared Annis was there for the interception. The Condors then killed the clock to claim their second P.G. Bowl title in three years.
"It was definitely a bruising P.G. Bowl, they came out hard and we came out hard and we got some momentum here and there but couldn't keep it going and that's what killed us," said Vikings head coach Sheldon Brown.
"Colburn is a helluva an athlete and he can make something out of nothing. He's unreal. Richard (Condors coach Bundock) mentioned about Hunter Brophy giving him gray hairs, but I'm only 24 and Colburn gave me a few gray hairs today."
The season continues next week for the Viking when they play in a provincial wild-card playoff, likely in the Lower Mainland. As the top seed in the North, the Condors will host quarterfinal playoff game Nov. 18 in Kamloops against a yet-to-be determined opponent.
