Just when it looked like the Northern B.C. North Stars were about to fritter away their comfortable lead on the football field at Masich Place Stadium, Bronco-buster Johnny Tatla rushed to the rescue.
Tatla had already earned his keep at defensive end, making tackles and leading the sack attack for the North Stars in Saturday's Two Rivers All-Star Game when he picked off a pass from Interior Select Broncos quarterback Jayden Mourato and ran 45 yards untouched into the end zone.
Tatla's touchdown with about two minutes left in the game sealed a 28-15 Stars' victory. On the play, Jacob Cundy and Corey Yeast swarmed Mourato and closed in on him to deliver the hit just before he released the ball. The off-balance pass traveled a short distance right into the arms of a surprised Tatla.
"It was a team touchdown for sure," said Tatla, a Grade 11 student at Prince George secondary school. "I didn't think I'd get it because I thought the running back would be there, but I had a bunch of guys behind me to block. That was my first touchdown.
"When they scored to make it 21-15, I was pretty worried they'd come back, especially when we turned the ball over, but our defence just got the ball back."
The Interior squad of mostly Grade 10 and 11 players from Kamloops, Vernon and Salmon Arm made it interesting with three minutes left on the clock when Mourato hooked up with receiver Josh Hyer for a 16-yard TD strike. Down by six after Mitch Dixon successfully worked a fake with Mourato and ran in a two-point convert, the Broncos tried an onside kick, which was recovered by the Stars, but two plays later the visitors from the south got the ball back when Reid Williams fumbled. The Broncos took over the ball just shy of midfield and missed on two pass attempts before Tatla's interception ended the suspense.
Led by the blocking of Stars teammate Trent Price, Isaac Rogers of PGSS had a field day at running back with well over 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Cundy, who split the quarterbacking duties with Kaiden Witso, also scored on a short run to help the Stars avenge a 44-0 loss in the inaugural Two Rivers All-star Game a year ago in Kamloops.
"It was a real struggle to fight through those guys but it's a nice change having the big guys out front -- like Brett Stubbs, Nick VonBieker and Cody Cruse -- all leading the way and making it easy," said the 17-year-old Rogers.
"I was really surprised to see that big man (Tatla) roll down the field that way. We needed that."
The Broncos got great mileage out of their passing game in the first half and three times brought the ball deep into the red zone in the second quarter. If not for a series of defensive gems by the Stars, the guys in green easily could have been trailing at halftime instead of being tied 7-7.
A 30-yard catch by Parker Matheson left the Broncos 14 yards away from the end zone but Tatla and Zach Bundock teamed up to bring Mourato down for a five-yard loss, then Yeast made a touchdown-saving tackle on Mourato to end the drive.
Another impressive Broncos' drive stalled when Ryan Payne intercepted behind the goalline and ran it back 38 yards. Just before the intermission, Josh Hyer's 24-yard catch-and-run left the Broncos with the ball at the three yard line, but the Stars stuffed them and ended the half with a blocked field goal. The Stars made a few adjustments with their pass rush and Mourato had a lot less time to operate in the second half.
"They just started catching on with our trips, they started loading up on that side and that's where our main routes were and that kind of stuffed us," said Mourato, a Grade 9 pivot from Salmon Arm.
"We were doing good there, marching down the field, and got a touchdown and got some confidence but then just let go."
The Stars scored first, a 33-yard run from Rogers four minutes into the game. A few minutes later, Peter Matheson teamed up with Mourato on a backfield reverse to convert on third down and score from 10 yards out. Rogers gave the Stars the lead again in the third quarter on a seven-yard run and on another possession in the fourth quarter was held a foot away from the end zone after a 16-yard carry, leading to Cundy's quick dive into paydirt to make it 21-7 with 6:30 left.
"All my running backs were extremely excited for this game because we had a huge (offensive) line and we had lots of extra huge guys to go in, so they just kind of ran behind them and it makes it look easy," said Stars head coach Don Williams.
"It's a big difference from last year. (The Broncos) were a much better team last year. This year we were at home and we had more bodies (35 players, as compared to 26 for the Broncos) and it made a difference."
