From start to finish, the Prince George Polars were head and shoulders above the rest of the junior varsity football pack.
They made that point abundantly clear in Wednesday's B.C. High School Football Association North Division final at Masich Place Stadium, where they pounded the College Heights Cougars 41-0.
With that win, the Polars capped an undefeated season in which they did not allow a point in four regular season and two playoff games, outscoring their opponents a combined 295-0.
"That's a tough thing to do - you don't see that very often - but there's a lot of luck involved," said PGSS head coach Tommy Heinzelman.
The Cougars came close to breaking that goose egg. On their first drive of the game they got the ball down to the PGSS four-yard line, working with a first down, but couldn't punch it in. The Polars blitzed and caught the Cougars in the backfield for big losses and forced a turnover on downs to end their scoring threat.
"We had a terrible start and they caught us napping and could have easily scored," said Heinzelman. "That happened to us a few times where other teams almost got us and we'd get a big play, like an ankle tackle from the last guy back, to keep them from scoring."
Led by game MVP Braden Reed, who collected 220 yards and scored two touchdowns, the Polars' running attack proved unstoppable. Terrance Vohar picked up three touchdowns and used his kicking foot to successfully convert six of the seven PGSS majors. Vohar, who also plays defence as an outside linebacker, also contributed seven tackles and one quarterback sack.
Oak Adams took over at quarterback for the Cougars in the second quarter and while he had limited effectiveness with his throwing arm he gained significant yardage on the run and was picked the game MVP for College Heights.
"College Heights came out strong and pushed us around physically. Fortunately we woke up and got our power run game going and started to move the ball later in the first half," said Heinzelman. "Our defense made a few huge plays, including stopping College Heights' first drive to keep us in it."
The Polars advance to a junior varsity wild-card playoff game next Thursday in Kamloops against an opponent either from the Okanagan or Lower Mainland.
In the third-place playoff that followed Wednesday night, the D.P. Todd Trojans defeated the Kelly Road Roadrunners 22-18. Trojan quarterback Aman Bansal tossed two touchdown passes to Mateh Kitamiere and found Mathew Graham for an end-zone strike. Bansal also ran for a touchdown and a pair of two-point converts. Linebacker Nathan Hickey and defensive end Reif Petrovicky were the leaders on the Trojan defence.
"All around, our boys played their best game of the year," said Trojans head coach Mike Rositano, whose team finished fourth in the regular season with a 1-3 record in its first year in the junior varsity league.
"To win a playoff game shows a lot for our young program. We only lose four players to the varsity team next year. We return 18 players next season and a new group of Grade 8s. The future looks great for the Trojans."
