Left with two broken arms after falling off a stair railing earlier in the week at school, Prince George peewee Purple quarterback Dawsen Powley was in no shape to play football Saturday.
That put the ball into the hands of Judah Keryluik, whose job it was to direct traffic on the field at Masich Place Stadium and try to beat P.G. Red in the Prince George Minor Football Association peewee semifinal.
If Keryluik, a defensive specialist, was worried about taking on the assignment with just one practice to prepare him for his first-ever game as a starting quarterback, it didn't show in the outcome. While they missed Powley's ability to read and react to plays on the field, the guys in purple rallied behind their new pivot and walked off with a 19-7 win to advance to Saturday's final against the Vanderhoof Vikings.
"I was pleased with what Judah came in with, I think he did very well," said P.G. Red defensive co-ordinator Derek Powley. "They came together and I thought they did a very good job for him coming in as a first-time QB. We played with a couple arrangements on certain plays and found a good line at the end."
Dan Tisseur, the P.G. Purple defensive co-ordinator, said his team stuck to the game plan and put in its best defensive effort of the season, with Keryluik, Seth Malbeuf and defensive end Ryan Shaw standouts in the semifinal.
P.G Purple running back Noah Lank scored two touchdowns on the ground and Keryluik also ran the ball across the goal line. P.G. Red got on the scoreboard late in the game when Kurtis Vohar took a handoff from quarterback Damien Talarico and broke loose on a 70-yard TD run against the grain.
"That was our one defensive breakdown, it was a great run," said Tisseur.
P.G. Red centre Kameron Stainton could not have agreed more. While his team finished a winless season with a 0-5-1 record, Vohar's run was a small victory that left a sweet taste.
"All of us were pretty happy when Kurtis scored but then we asked the ref how much time was left and he said we only had two minutes," said Stainton. "We knew we were down by two touchdowns and we weren't going to win but that's OK, at least we scored some points. I was glad we scored."
P.G. Purple is now 4-2-1 on the season. They've had a couple close games with the 6-0 Vikings but they know the numbers favour Vanderhoof, whose roster of 10 and 11-year-old players numbers 30, nearly double that of P.G. Purple and its squad of 16.
In the atom division semifinals, P.G. Red beat Vanderhoof 28-6, while fourth-place P.G. Purple blanked fifth-place Quesnel 49-0 . P.G Red will take P.G. Purple in Saturday's atom final.
In a barnburner junior bantam semifinal, the Vanderhoof Vikings hung on to defeat the Quesnel Bombers 57-56. Colsen Jensen's solo tackle prevented the Bombers from scoring on a two-point convert attempt with 14 seconds left in the game. The Vikings will move on to Saturday's final against the Prince George Blackjacks.
