Even with a 13-point lead, the Prince George Axemen were not at all comfortable.
Not until Tyrell Laing took matters into his own hands.
The Axemen running back broke free for two long-distance touchdown runs in the third quarter and added one more major as the Axemen romped to a 32-0 win over the West Kootenay Stampeders in Saturday's B.C. Community Football Association junior bantam provincial final in Kamloops.
"Our players adjusted really well when that team came out with an offence that was completely unfamiliar to them," said Axemen defensive co-cordinator Greg Kidd. "They had only three linemen and they were lining up guys all over the field, but they adjusted to it and our offence got off to a quick start. It was 13-0 at the half and Tyrell Laing completed a couple of long runs in the third quarter and that's what won us the game."
Laing finished with three touchdowns. Axemen quarterback Caleb Cruse carried the ball over the goal line twice and Daniel Stratton also scored.
Brett Morrow is head coach of the provincial-champion Axemen, who went a perfect 8-0 in the 2010 season.
"This is a great group of kids who played hard and practiced hard all year," said Kidd. "If they keep playing like that they could all have a good future in football."
Meanwhile, in the bantam championship, also in Kamloops, the Vanderhoof Vikings won their second-straight provincial title, defeating the Salmon Arm Chargers 22-13. The Vikings were down 13-8 at halftime and came back with two defensive touchdowns in the second half.
In the peewee provincial final, the Prince George All-North Axemen lost 40-0 in Kamloops to the Victoria Hitmen, champions of the Vancouver Island Canadian Football Association. The Hitmen beat the Axemen 46-20 in last year's provincial championship.
The Vanderhoof Vikings atom team lost 40-0 to the Kelowna-Mission Lions of the Southern Interior conference.
