BURSTIt wouldn’t be a B.C. Senior Varsity AA Football final party without the Vernon Panthers.
The province’s No. 1-ranked squad advanced to its third straight provincial title game, and sixth in the past nine years, by steamrolling Victoria’s Mt. Douglas Rams 45-7 under the bright lights of BC Place Stadium in Vancouver Sunday, Nov. 23.
The Panthers will face the second-ranked Argyle Pipers in the B.C. AA championship Sunday, Nov. 30, at 3 p.m. at BC Place.
The Pipers prevented an all-Interior provincial final by taming the upstart seventh-seeded South Kamloops Titans 29-22 in the other semifinal Sunday.
From the opening whistle, Vernon came out firing.
After forcing a quick stop on Mt. Douglas’ opening drive, senior running back Owen West electrified the crowd by taking the first offensive snap 40 yards to the end zone. On the Panthers’ next series, West nearly repeated the feat on the second play, but a holding penalty erased the score. Undeterred, West capped the drive with a three-yard plunge for his second touchdown.
West was unstoppable all afternoon, carrying the ball 20 times for a season-high 184 yards and four touchdowns, earning player-of-the-game honours.
“Owen was a horse on both sides of the ball,” said Panthers head coach Sean Smith, noting West also recorded seven tackles on defence.
The Panthers controlled the tempo throughout, adding a field goal as time expired in the first half to take a 17–0 lead into the locker room. The third quarter was all Vernon, as West added two more majors and Grade 10 rookie Bennett Friesen broke free for a 21-yard score, pushing the advantage to 38-0.
Mt. Douglas finally found the end zone on a fourth-quarter touchdown pass, but Vernon answered immediately. Backup quarterback Nash Steele connected with Chris Curtis on an 18-yard strike for the Panthers’ lone passing touchdown of the day.
“This game was won in the trenches,” Smith said. “Our offensive and defensive lines did an amazing job. We rushed the ball 35 times, which isn’t typical for us — we’re usually very balanced — but our O-line was moving bodies, and that made play-calling easy.”
Defensively, Vernon was equally dominant.
Provincial all-star Josh Vandenberg led the charge with 11 tackles and relentless pressure on the Rams’ quarterback.
“Coach (Connor) Rothwell had a great game plan, and our boys executed it almost perfectly,” Smith added.
With the game well in hand, Vernon’s backups saw significant action in the second half.
“I was really impressed when our seconds entered the game — the intensity and level of play didn’t decline,” Smith said.