This is it.
The P.G. Bowl to decide Prince George high school football bragging rights starts tonight at7 p.m. on the field turf at Masich Place Stadium.
The regular-season champion Prince George Polars are trying to get their hands on the Matt Pearce Memorial Trophy for the first time since 2018, when they claimed the P.G. Bowl title with a 49-8 win over the Kelly Road Roadrunners.
Lining up on the other side of the field are the Duchess Park Condors, who matched the Polars 3-1 record but lost the head-to-head battle with PGSS that decided the title on the final day of the regular season. The Condors haven’t celebrated a P.G. Bowl win since 2016, when they defeated the Nechako Valley Vikings of Vanderhoof 28-20.
The Condors clinched a berth in the final a week ago with they topped the College Heights Cougars 21-14, while in the other semifinal playoff the Polars waltzed to a 45-0 win over the Kelly Road Shas Ti Grizzlies.
“It’ll be a close, hard-fought game, both teams will be extremely motivated,” said Polars assistant coach Brett Morrow. “We know what they’re going to do and they know what we’re going to do, and it’s the team that’s able to execute and make adjustments throughout the game (will advance).”
The Polars needed a late touchdown from running back Kurtis Vohar with 18.6 seconds left to give them edge over the Condors in that 26-20 decision on Oct. 22. The game was a close thriller from start to finish and both teams utilized their passing game as well as the run to throw different wrinkles into each team’s defence.
“It was two contrasting styles; we kind of ran a tight formation, smash-mouth, and used the pass to set up the run and they do the opposite a little bit,” said Morrow.”
“They spread you out and throw the ball around and hand it off to the running backs.”
Noah Lank, at six-foot-two, 215 pounds, is tough to bring down and the much of the Condors’ offence centres around him breaking through the Polars defensive line and quarterback Quinn Neukomm’s ability to scramble and take off out of the pocket if he needs to. Lank is the leading rusher in the BCSSFA double-A division with 784 yards and five touchdowns through five games.
“Our guys are looking forward to the challenge (of facing Lank),” said Morrow. “You’ve got to try to stop him before he gets his momentum going. He is a big strong kid who runs really hard and you just have to go low and have 11 guys on the defence running for the ball and gang-tackling.”
Neukomm is the top-rated double-A passer in the province, averaging 205 yards passing per game, with 10 touchdowns in five games. He’s connected with his receivers for 54 catches on 89 attempts, a 60.7 per cent completion ratio and has given up five interceptions.
The Polars also have a mobile quarterback in Jason Kragt, who also has size working to his advantage at six-foot-one, 200 pounds. Kragt does pass nearly as often as Neukomm, with just 30 attempts and 10 completions for a 37.5 per cent success rate. Two of those 10 catches went for touchdowns and Kragt has tossed one interception. The 17-year-old senior from Hixon is the second-leading rusher in the North with 448 yards and seven touchdowns.
Polars Grade 11 receiver Kaleb Lizotte has emerged as an offensive threat, while doubling on defence at safety, and don’t be surprised if Kragt utilizes him a little more often tonight. Lizotte caught two TD catches in last week’s semifinal.
Morow will be taking over the Polars’ head coaching duties tonight from Pat Bonnett, who has not been vaccinated against COVID and is prevented by provincial health orders from being on the field or in the stands during the game. Bonnett says he’ll be watching the game from outside the fence.
The winners will get a bye into the second round of the BCSSFA double-A playoffs. The loser tonight will represent the North Division against the No. 1 seed from the Interior in a one-game B playoff next weekend at the home of that Interior team. The winner of that game will play the P.G. Bowl winner in two weeks in Prince George.
Third place in the North will be decided tonight in the early game (5 p.m.) start between College Heights and Kelly Road Shas Ti.
