Nobody could accuse the Prince George junior bantam Axemen of having a one-dimensional offence.
They beat the Vanderhoof Vikings 42-0 in Saturday's Prince George Minor Football Association championship game Saturday and six different Axemen, ranging in size from the biggest to the smallest on the team, found their way into the end zone.
The first touchdown romp of the day belonged to the largest guy on the field, six-foot-three, 210-pound Logan Kolybaba, 13, who used his considerable size advantage to break a few tackles and get free with the ball up the middle of a muddy Masich Place Stadium field.
Kolybaba was a tough to stop all game and had the strength to carry several Viking defenders at a time on his back. At one point in the fourth quarter he hurdled would-be tacklers to gain more yards, which he did, however the play was called back.
Hurdling is a no-no in minor football.
But the biggest cheer from the Axemen bench was reserved for Evan Mayhew.
With the game already well in hand in the fourth quarter, the four-foot-nine, 65-pound receiver caught a pass from Axemen quarterback Braden Connor and took it to the house, winning a foot race with Vikings defensive back Brendan McKee for a 75-yard touchdown.
McKee returned to a hero's welcome at the bench, picked up and hoisted high into the air by his coach to celebrate his first touchdown of the year.
"That's what we wanted to do was spread out so teams can't easily shut you down," said Axemen head coach Mike Rositano.
"We can run the ball, we can throw the ball, we have strong receivers and two strong quarterbacks and I think that two-quarterback system has been our strength this year. One quarterback can play recover and the one can play running back."
Hayden Matheson, Noah Lank, Kurtis Vohar and Alex Thanos also scored touchdowns for the Axemen, who led 20-0 at the half. They will play in the provincial final Nov. 19 in Kamloops against either the Kelowna Lions or Richmond Raiders.
"It was a good way to end the season up here but now we have to go down south and play our best there," said Matheson.
"We've had a fantastic season, we have such a diverse team, so much depth, everyone is absolutely amazing at every position."
The Axemen quarterbacks, Connor and Damien Talarico-Andreason, both got their share of playing time taking the snaps in the final.
"It was a rough game and we played our best out there and we have the coaches to thank, they're the reason we're here and we're going to provincials," said Connor.
"Everybody on our team played their hardest and we just went out and had fun."
Playing with six fewer reserves than the opponents, the Vikings were held off the scoreboard for the first time all season, but they had their moments of glory on the field. Thanks to the scrambling ability of quarterback Kayden Young, who showed he was not afraid to take off out of the pocket, and some fearless running support of backs Bridger Jensen and Fred Nelson, the Vikings had several chances to score, driving the ball deep into Axemen territory. But each time they got close their drives stalled when they were tackled short of goal line or misfired on end-zone passes.
"I thought it was a fun game, we did our best, we tried but we didn't make it," said Nelson, who suffered a rib injury in the third quarter and had to coaxed to leave the field. "We did the best we could."
Three other Prince George teams will represent the Northern region at the provincial finals in Kamloops. The Axemen midgets, peewees and atoms all qualified for the nine-man championships, all to be played Nov. 19 in Kamloops.
