Reid Williams earned his wings Saturday on the junior varsity football field.
He hooked up on the receiving end with quarterback Tyrell Laing for two touchdown passes, confirming the Prince George Polars do indeed have a formidable air force.
The Polars scored early and often at the expense of the College Heights Cougars in their game Saturday at a rain-soaked Lakewood field and by halftime had built a 40-0 lead. That was a cue for Polars head coach Brent Morrow to let up on the throttle and give his younger second-string players a chance to play and the scoreboard remained unchanged the rest of the game.
"We wanted to work on our passing game I told myself I wanted to get a touchdown pass this game and I got it, so that was pretty exciting," said Williams, 15, now in his seventh year of football. "It's going to be a good year. We have a good group of guys, hard-working, and everyone wants to win."
Last year the Cougars finished second in the league to Duchess Park. The top two teams in north travel to Kamloops for playoffs against the top two teams from the Interior league for the right to play Lower Mainland opponents in BC Place Stadium. Last year, PGSS lost their playoff 12-0 to top-ranked South Kamloops.
In addition to Williams's end-zone romps that covered 29 yards and eight yards, Noah Williams also hauled in an eight-yard throw from Laing. The running game was working pretty good as well. Nick Von Bieker utilized his 300-pound frame to beat a path to paydirt from 19 years out and Dawson Ellery took off on a 29-yard TD scamper.
"Reid had a breakout game, he's one of the leaders on our team and it's really nice to see a captain like that get two touchdown passes," said the 15-year-old Laing. "In previous games we have had him running shorter routes so he wasn't going downfield too much. This time we did send him downfield.
"It feels good to be 4-0. Our team really wants to go down south again and be the first Prince George team to win a game down there."
Ellery, a Grade 9 student who plays at running back and outside linebacker, picked off two College Heights passes tossed by quarterback Zach Peever. Ellery almost had a third interception but instead tipped the ball into the hands of teammate Spencer Bohar.
The PGSS junior squad has had great success with its running game and has its defence has given up only one touchdown (to Kelly Road) in four games this season.
Cougars coach Grant Erickson said his team is extremely young, and they will have to endure growing pains before they rise in the ranks as high as the Polars.
"Those are all Grade 8s we have playing on our team so it'll be our turn in a couple of years if they decide to keep playing and don't get too discouraged," said Erickson.
Condors improve to 3-0
In senior high school football action Friday at Masich Place Stadium, Caleb Cruse picked up 117 passing yards for two TDs and TJ Kyriakos ran 171 yards for three majors to lead the Duchess Park Condors to a 46-0 win over the PGSS Polars.
"Rylan Matters had all day to throw," said Condors head coach Mike Rositano. "The offensive line led by left tackle Brogan Cruse gave Matters the time and he picked apart PGSS for 298 yards."
Led by Mitch Schulz, who had nine tackles and three quarterback sacks, and Brogan Cruse, who tallied eight tackles and three sacks, the Condors defence limited the Polars to just one first down.
The win improved the Condors' first-place record to 3-0, while PGSS dropped into a fourth-place tie with Kelly Road, both at 1-2. Nechako Valley (2-1) plays Duchess Park this Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Masich Place Stadium, followed by the Kelly Road-Correlieu game at 7. College Heights plays PGSS Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
