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Cougars, Vikings roll in football semifinals

Not blessed with the luxury of size, five-foot-seven, 140-pound quarterback Jerome Erickson has grown up playing football knowing he has to be quick on his feet and think fast just to survive.
Cougars, Vikings move on to Northern AA Conference final_1
College Heights Cougars running back Austin Adams rushes the ball against a trio of Kelly Road Roadrunners defenders Friday night at Masich PLace Stadium, where the Cougars defeated the Rpoadrunners 36-6 to advance to the P.G. Bowl B.C. Secondary Schools Northern Conference double-A varsity championship.

Not blessed with the luxury of size, five-foot-seven, 140-pound quarterback Jerome Erickson has grown up playing football knowing he has to be quick on his feet and think fast just to survive.
Holding the ball after the snap is like hanging on to piece of meat in a shark tank. It attracts attention and Erickson learned at a young age how to summon his courage and get rid of that pigskin in a hurry or take off running before he becomes a meal for hungry lineman.
Friday night under the lights at Masich Place Stadium the Grade 11 College Heights Cougars' quarterback won that war of attrition and delivered the Cougars to their ninth P.G. Bowl final appearance in 16 years, leading them to a 34-6 win over the Kelly Road Roadrunners.
The Cougars will meet the Nechako Valley Vikings of Vanderhoof in the B.C. Secondary School Football Association Northern Conference double-A varsity championship next Friday at Masich.
The Vikings won their semifinal earlier Friday, beating the Prince George Polars 46-8.
Erickson did a bit of everything to frustrate the Polars. He passed for 140 yards and one touchdown, ran 35 yards to score two majors and caught a pass from Austin Adams on a razzle-dazzle end-zone play late in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring. The Roadrunners swarmed Erickson at every opportunity but his instincts as a scrambler kicked in to avoid the pressure and he was sacked just twice.
"I live by all those guys (in the Hart area of the city) and I know them personally so it's always a bit of a rivalry," said Erickson. "Teams hate me because I win. Teams like to send the house because I'm so small but I always get the edge and good things happen."
Erickson also did his part on defence, picking off a pass from Roadrunners quarterback Hunter Haughay late in the third quarter, one of four interceptions the Cougars made.  
""The defence stepped up and our d-line was doing super-good out there, but they're super-fast and we struggled on offence in the first half," said Roadrunners running back/linebacker Tristin Brochu.
Kelly Road trailed by only two touchdowns at the half and the Roadrunner defence came up big to start the third quarter, which led to their only touchdown. Patrick Jakins tackled Hayden Matheson for a loss and Connor Johnson blocked the ensuing punt, which gave the Roadunners the ball on the Cougars' 30 yard line. On the next play, Haughay tossed the ball into the end zone for Darren Eikum to make it a 14-6 game.
The Cougars offence took over at that point and Jared Cowan's 23-yard catch-and-run left them deep in Kelly Road territory. Adams finished off the drive with a 31-yard touchdown and their lead was never threatened.
"It was a great game, we came out a little bit like we didn't know what we were doing but we pulled it through," said Cougars centre/defensive end Lucas Jacobs. "The scoreboard (in the first half) didn't exactly show how we felt on the inside but we performed well. We have to improve for the Vanderhoof game, for sure, but we we were very smart. This wasn't our most physical game but we used our smarts and that got us through."
The Cougars offensive line opened up the inside holes for Matheson, their fullback, and he had 20 carries for 132 yards. Adams scored three touchdowns and Cowan was also a threat, making six catches for 83 yards, which helped dash the Roadrunners' dream of playing for a championship. Jakins, one of eight Kelly Road seniors, will now will have to focus on the third-place game against the Polars next Friday afternoon.
"We had our plays but their consistency just did us in," said Jakins. "Their speed and how fundamental they are into their system makes them hard to play against. Jerome's a good scrambler but he just needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. We were starting to get annoyed with him."
The Roadrunners, missing their top defensive end/running back, Brendan Watts, who had his elbow broken the previous week in a game against the Vikings, suffered another crippling blow in the second quarter Friday when lineman Kyle Bicklmeier went down with an ankle injury which required an ambulance ride.
"It's hard when you lose some of your heavy-hitters but considering the circumstances we did what we were hoping to do," said Jakins. "It just didn't play in our favour."
In the early game the Polars kept it close, trailing 16-8 at the intermission. The Vikings scored 30 points in the second half and shut down the PGSS offence. Bridger Jensen rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns, while Garrett Dyck carried the ball 14 times for 83 yards and one TD.
Connor Hoffman connected with quarterback Kayden Young on two catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Cole Brenton provided a rushing touchdown for the Polars.
"We were only up by eight at halftime, we definitely came out a bit flat and didn't play the game we're used to," said Vikings head coach Sheldon Brown. "We made some adjustments and didn't look back. Our running backs did really well for us.
"We have some beefy boys on our o-line and without them there's no way we're in the championship. Our o-line is pretty dominant and our d-line likes to attack and get the pressure."
The Vikings will be making their first P.G. Bowl appearance since 2016, when the lost to Duchess Park in the final.