In a battle of the unbeatens that could have gone either way, the Duchess Park Condors found the path to paydirt.
Jacob Cundy took a pitch from quarterback Rylan Matters and ran unimpeded into the end zone from two yards out, punching the Condors' ticket to a 21-16 victory over the Prince George Polars Friday night at Masich Place Stadium that clinched the Northern Conference high school regular season title.
"People are calling it the best high school football game ever in the north, people saw two very different teams battling it out hard and either side was just as good as the other side," said Condors head coach Mike Rositano. "Win or lose it was a great game."
The Polars were guilty of turning over the ball at critical times, which killed drives and gave the Condors offence momentum. PGSS, with Kaiden Witso calling the shots at quarterback, scored off its first possession in the first quarter, a 45-yard drive capped by a 10-yard run from Isaac Rogers. They had the ball in Condor territory later in the quarter when Rogers fumbled the ball and the Condors responded with two touchdowns in the second quarter. Matters, coming off a back injury, competed a 25-yard pass to Cundy into the end zone and Andrew Sivell hauled in a 14-yard touchdown catch to give the Condors a 14-7 lead heading into the second half.
Rogers and Trent Price had success moving the ball on the run for PGSS in the third quarter and from five yards out, Rogers initially failed to cross the goal line but the momentum of his linemen pushed him ahead far enough to score. Rogers, the leading rusher in the province's Tier 2 varsity division, then added a two-point convert to tie the game.
The PGSS defence pinned the Condors deep and forced Matters to intentionally ground the ball while in the end zone to give up a safety, which gave the Polars a 16-14 lead. That lasted until Cundy completed the Condors' drive for his second TD late in the game.
T.J. Kyriakos rushed for more than 100 yards, including a 30-yard scamper that set up the winning touchdown. As middle linebacker, he contributed 24 tackles and four quarterback sacks.
"When you have two close teams, the team that wins the turnover battle usually wins and we gave the ball up more than they did," said Polars head coach Don Williams.
The Condors advance to a one-game playoff against Vernon, the top-ranked team in the Okanagan Varsity Conference on Nov. 7 in Kamloops. The winner of that game will be the top-ranked Interior team in provincial playoffs the following weekend against a Western Conference opponent, while the loser will be ranked No. 2.
The Polars will play either Westside of Kamloops or Clarence Fulton of Vernon, also on Nov. 7 in Kamloops.
The game also decided the P.G. Bowl. Since 2004, the two top teams in the Northern Conference have traditionally played each other in a one-game playoff to determine the playoff champions but this year that game, originally scheduled for this Friday, will not be played. The Polars and Condors decided before their game on Friday their final regular season game would also serve as the PG Bowl final.
"To go into provincials, it's based on regular season records," said Williams. "The PG Bowl is something we always do up north for bragging rights but it doesn't mean anything. The reality is we're going into tough provincial playoffs and us playing back-to-back weeks beating ourselves up in a game that doesn't actually mean anything, it's better to not potentially get injured and just prepare for provincials."
It was the second-straight PG Bowl triumph for the Condors (5-0), who dedicated the game to the family of Condors' receiver/safety Caleb Cruse and his brother Brogan, a former Condor, whose mother Tanya died last week after a three-year battle with cancer. Caleb came up with two interceptions and nine tackles and after the game was carried off the field on the shoulders of his coach.
"It was an emotional night and an emotional win," said Rositano. "PGSS is a great team, but we're a great family, and that's our difference. We don't fight amongst each other, we don't point fingers, we get to work and do what it takes to take care of each other, whether it's on the field or off the field."
To keep from getting rusty over the next three weeks, the Condors and Polars will play each other in a controlled scrimmage at a date to be determined. Nechako Valley of Vanderhoof and Correlieu of Quesnel meet Friday afternoon at Masich Place Stadium in a one-game playoff at Masich Place Stadium to decide third place.
