The Nechako Valley Vikings are ready to get back down to business, winning football games.
They've got the Argyle Pipers in their sights and will meet the North Vancouver team in a do-or-die wild-card playoff game today at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops.
The Vikings came on strong a week ago in the P.G. Bowl Northern Conference championship game at Masich Place Stadium, fighting back from a 28-6 third-quarter deficit to come within a touchdown of the Duchess Park Condors.
But they ran out of time in their comeback bid, losing 28-20, and Vikings head coach Sheldon Brown is counting on his players picking up where they left off when they return to the field Saturday.
"It's going to be physical," said Brown, who shares the coaching duties with his younger brother Cam. "We watched some film on them and we think we match up pretty well."
The Vikings are healthy, with 23 of their 25 players available to play Saturday. Receiver/defensive back Dylan Parent is still out with a broken tibia, while receiver/defensive back Darren Barg has an injured shoulder. Parent, a senior, hasn't played since in the second game of the season Sept. 23 against Duchess Park.
The Vikings, who are 5-2 this season, have been practicing three days a week but with the short days and no lights on their field in Vanderhoof they've had to go into the gym for the second hour.
Six Vikings were selected for Northern Conference all-star team announced Thursday. That list includes Vikings running back Hunter Brophy, flex (running back, wide receiver-tight end) Corbin Brown, offensive lineman Chance Arnusch, defensive lineman Ethan Lank, linebacker Tyler Lang, and defensive back Erin Bach.
Ten Condors earned Northern Conference all-star nods, including offensive MVP running back Colburn Pearce and linebacker Zack Bundock, the defensive MVP. The other Condor all-stars were defensive lineman Denver Peterson, linebacker Gage Reimer, quarterback Jacob Cundy, receivers Nathan Stokes and Jared Annis, and offensive linemen Logan Seager and Brett Stubbs. Also picked were four College Heights Cougars - offensive lineman Landan Parsons, running back Conner Adams, linebacker Hein Jordan and defensive lineman Cory Yeast - and four Prince George Polars - offensive lineman Justin Wittmeier, defensive lineman Austin Edgson, linebacker Jager Hammerstrom, and defensive back Noah Williams.
The Condors will know Friday night who they will meet in their double-A varsity quarterfinal playoff next Friday in Kamloops. The Condors will play the winner of Friday's Seaquam Seahawks-Robert Bateman Huskies wild-card playoff. Based in Delta, the Seahawks (5-1) finished second in the Western Conference while the Huskies (2-3), who are from Abbotsford, placed fourth in the Eastern Conference.
"Seaquam is favoured, they finished second in the division with the same record as the first-place team (Hugh Boyd Trojans of Richmond)," said Condors head coach Richard Bundock. "Now it's the North against the world.
"We're on a turf field and we can use our speed to go after them right off the bat. We know they'll have talent. Defence wins championships so if we can stop them more than they stop us... We have to have a few things go right for us and we'll have to minimize our mistakes."
Condors all-star quarterback Cundy, who suffered a dislocated thumb in the last game of the regular season, won't play next week. He suited up at linebacker for the Condors in the P.G. Bowl but Bundock says he won't make the trip due to "family reasons." That means Grade 10 quarterback Andrew Johnson will get his third consecutive start.
The Condors are not sure whether Reimer, a receiver/outside linebacker, will be healthy enough. He went to the hospital after the P.G. Bowl where it was discovered he had a broken rib. Condors defensive end Liz Pelletier, who was taken off the field last Friday in an ambulance is out with a concussion.
