Zion Brown and the Westshore Rebels were left with some unfinished business at the end of the 2023 season when they came one touchdown short and lost the Canadian Bowl national junior football final on home turf in Langford to the Saskatoon Hilltops.
At that time Brown was an 18-year-old rookie from Halifax learning what it takes to be the go-to receiver on a Rebel team that was deep with talent.
Brown didn’t disappoint in his sophomore season and was the Rebels’ offensive player of the year, but the playoffs were bittersweet, ending with a five-point loss to the Okanagan Sun in the BC Football Conference Cullen Cup final.
Brown is among 10 Rebels who played in the 2023 national final.
”I want to get back there, climb that ladder and get back To the Canadian Bowl and I’m 100 per cent sure we can do it with this team,” said Brown.
Prince George football fans got to see on Saturday night why Brown is attracting so much attention around the league. Gifted with speed, shake-and-bake shiftiness and hands of glue, he scored three touchdowns and was a threat whenever he had the ball, leading the Rebels to a 33-13 triumph Saturday over the hometown Prince George Kodiaks in front of crowd well in excess of 2,000 at Masich Place Stadium.
The Rebels scored on their first series of the third quarter. Brown got it started with a 20-yard catch-and-run that got them close to midfield and Carter Williams broke free on a 61-yard scamper. That set it up for Brown, who button-hooked in the end zone to catch a seven-yard pass from Gavin Session.
The Kodiaks retook the lead 13-12 on a Bryce Harper 15-yard field goal but it didn’t last long.
With 42 seconds left in the third quarter he started Rebels possession with 60-yard reception after he ran untouched up the sideline and Westside had a 19-13 lead.
The Rebels got their running game in gear and Carter Williams did much of the damage, setting the stage for Brown’s third major to complete the hat trick from 14 yards out.
“These guys are going to play their bodies on the line every week, as am I,” said Brown. “University is not the goal, I want to take football as far as I can. I understand football is a give-and-take sport, and play can be your last. CFL. NFL. I want to take it all the way, whatever comes with the sport I’ll take it on.”
Westshore is one of the most successful teams in recent league history. The Rebels advanced to the BCFC championship game the past three seasons and they’ve had six Cullen Cup final appearances and played in two Canadian Bowls since 2016.
The Rebels started the season ranked fifth in the country and it was great measuring stick for the Kodiaks. They just have to find a way to crank it up in the second half like their opponents did.
“Lots of areas to improve, even though there was some good stuff it wasn’t consistent enough to be effective through four quarters and be effective in all situations,” said Kodiaks head coach Jamie Boreham.
“We think we have the right guys and I believe we have the right guys,” he said. “They’re going to go home and this one hurts for them. We gave up some (kick) returns and it’s a job assignment thing. We had some guys get off-script and when you get off-script running systems it just hurts.
“It was a couple steps backward from camp, we hadn’t seen this side of us. When you get a good team in your house and play an OK first half and go into the half with a lead you’ve got to find a way to close it up.”
Connor Bryan, a former Rebel offensive guard who was the Rebels’ run-game coach last year, earned his first BCHL win as a head coach and he liked what his troops showed, especially in the second half.
“We’ve got a pretty young squad, some new guys in new positions having to make the adjustment to the next level, and all the kudos to the offence, defence and special teams for understanding we can play better than that and the second half speaks for itself,” said Bryan.
“(The Kodiaks) really surprised me, they came out excited and ramped up to pay and really met our energy well and kept it really close and put us in a tough spot going into that half. I think they have a good chance of making a playoff spot.”
Harper picked up where he left off last year as the Canadian Junior Football Conference First Team All-Canadian placekicker, a season in which he led the BCFC with 16 field goals and scored 67 points.
Harper split the uprights with a 45-yard field goal to get the Kodiaks on the scoreboard late in the first quarter. It was a personal record kick for the 19-year-old Fort McMurray native, now in his third season playing in Prince George.
“For me, punting is still an issue, I rush myself and I need to get that locked in,” said Harper. “We have the pieces to get a win but just couldn’t get it done. The first half was great, we had it, we were putting pressure on them. When we start to get down as a team (on the scoreboard), we’re not scared, but we just back down when we should keep pushing. We’ll get it worked on, this is Week 1.
“I love these fans and I just want to win for them, and we will.”
When Harper kicked his first field goal the Kodiaks trailed 4-3, but it could have been worse after PG quarterback Sawyer Thiessen’s first pass of the night was picked off by Giovanni Linuzzi. The Rebels moved the ball down to the five-yard line but had to settle for a Simon Hales field goal after Hixon native Jason Kragt sacked Session for a loss.
The Kodiaks scored the game’s first touchdown after a third-down gamble sideline pass to Carson Briere kept the drive alive. The Rebels got caught with a face-masking penalty that left them with the ball at first-and-goal at Thiessen got the job down with a 15-yeard run up the middle. Harper converted and the Kodiaks led 10-4.
They had a great chance to pad their lead late in the first half when Nick Tremblay intercepted a Session pass at midfield and ran it back for what looked like a touchdown, but it was called back on a roughing -the-passer penalty and JJ Aboagye, a former Rebel, was the guilty party.
“This game taught us who we are and what we have to work on, and we have a lot to work on,” said Aboagye, 21, a native of London, England. “This team, we’ve got a lot of veterans, guys that have been here a long time and it’s going to work in the next game. Progression, that’s what it is. The score doesn’t matter, play to the last whistle, that’s all it is.”
The Kodiaks offensive line wasn’t giving Thiessen much time in the pocket and that had a lot to do with their second-half sag. The Rebels d-line got its sack attack going with Manny Fotiou and Myles McPherson both getting to Thiessen in the backfield.
Although outclassed in the second half, the Kodiaks showed plenty of positive signs they’re going to win at lot more often this year than in any of their three previous seasons. The experience factor is what will make that possible now that have an abundance of 20-and-older guys who know their jobs and what to expect from the rest of the league.
The Kodiaks will head to Kamloops for their next game Saturday against the Broncos. Prince George also visits the defending BCFC-champion Okanagan Sun Aug. 2, before returning to Masich Aug. 16 to play the Langley Rams.
