It wasn’t much of a battle.
The Vernon Panthers roared out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead and rolled to a 48-13 victory over cross-town rivals Fulton Maroons in the Battle of Vernon AA Interior Conference Senior Varsity High School Football matchup Friday, Oct. 21, at Greater Vernon Athletic Park.
The Panthers – ranked No. 2 in the B.C. AA standings – defeated Fulton 35-7 two weeks prior in a pre-season contest.
The Cats scored majors on all five of their first-half possessions, taking a 34-7 lead into the halftime break.
Joe Murphy led the VSS charge on the ground , racking up 177 yards on seven carries (25 yards per carry) including three rushing TDs (50, 1, 93 yards). Murphy would also score a 45-yard touchdown on his only reception.
“I was happy with our play out of the gates again this week and thought our run game was firing on all cylinders,” said Vernon head coach Sean Smith. “Angus Reid (ex-CFLer and current offensive line coach) has done an outstanding job with our linemen. Similar to last year, they are becoming the strength of our team and are so technically sound and prepared for whatever our opponents send at us.
“We are starting a Grade 9 at centre (Owen Carpenter) and Angus has quickly developed him into a very strong and smart senior player that handles all of our protection and line calls.”
Back-up quarterback Elijah Warner (2 of 4 for 22 yards) took over the play calling duties in the third quarter and drove the offence for his first touchdown of the season when Grade 10 rookie tailback Johah Lee broke free for a 50-yard run. Late season addition Mekhi Mitchell rounded out the second half scoring when he stripped the Fulton ball carrier and returned it 67 yards.
“While the score might not indicate it, Fulton competed hard the whole game and, despite being young and undersized, they didn’t make it easy for us,” said Smith. “Their tailback (Jentezen Peterson) is a talent and not only runs with power but is also a great cutback runner. He was our focus on defence and he still managed to carve us up on the ground.”
Defensively, Scotty Hoffman led VSS with five tackles while Cisko Hove added 4 (including one for a loss).
Fulton coach Mike Scheller said the Panthers laid a beatdown on his club.
“Vernon is a superior team to us and they displayed it Friday night,”he said. “They play faster and with more intensity. They are a great team in all three phases of football. They should have a long playoff run. Their team speed is impressive.I was not happy with our intensity in the first half. They hit some big plays on us and we became listless. We are undermanned this year in terms of senior players and our lines are beaten up, but we should play better.”
Rylan Nadurak scored a Fulton touchdown in the second quarter off a nine-yard pass from quarterback Brad Scabar (7-20, 38 yards, one interception). Reid Williamson added a 12-yard run for a major in the fourth quarter.
Peterson finished with 61 yards on the ground on 12 carries, and added 28 yards from five catches. Griff Morrier ran for 19 yards on four carries.
Leon Defauw led Fulton’s defence with six tackles, and Dani Gonzalez added five.
“The second half we showed some spark and I was happy with how we played,” said Scheller.”We had some emotion in our game and guys fought harder. Defauw at offensive tackle and linebacker was our best player tonight. He played his guts out. JV call ups Jeremy Peterson and Owen Omeasoo showed some toughness on defence for us. Carter Moore saw a lot of action on kick return and did well.”
Both teams hit the road this weekend, one for league play, one for exhibition.
The Panthers visit the South Kamloops Titans (Friday, Oct. 28, – 6pm – Hillside Stadium), in what will be a battle for the No. 1 seed in the conference.
“This is a very important game for us as the winner will get a first round bye and will host the quarterfinal game,” said Smith. “To win that game, we have to be more disciplined on both sides of the ball. I think we gave up more yards in penalties than we did to Fulton’s offence. We can’t expect to win many games if we continue to do that.”
The Maroons will travel south across the border to take on the Omak Pioneers in Washington Friday night. The team will also take in a university game Thursday, Oct. 27, between the Washington State Cougars and the University of Utah Utes in Pullman, Wash.
JUNIOR VARSITY
In Interior Junior Varsity play, South Kamloops Titans scored 14 unanswered fourth-quarter points to put away the Fulton Maroons 28-6 Thursday, Oct. 20, at Grahame Park.
Moore began the game with a 92-yard kickoff return for Fulton’s lone major.
“The game was much closer than the score suggests but in the end, South Kamloops was the better team and they deserved to win,” said Scheller. “Both defences played well. They shut down our run and pass game and we could not do much offensively. It was a struggle on that side of the ball.
“Our special teams units played well.”
Quarterback Gabe Adam was 8-16 for 40 yards, but was picked off three times by the Titans.
Jeremy Peterson led the D with five tackles, Moore and Ollie Horne added four apiece and Cole Breugom chipped in three.
“Defensively we played well,” said Scheller. “Cole Breugom at defensive end gets better every week and he played with good intensity. Horne at middle linebacker played very well and made some nice tackles. We were able to contain a good SKSS offence. The size of their offensive line wore us down and they won the game.”
The Vernon Panthers pounded the Westsyde Blue Wave of Kamloops 61-33.
Kelowna’s Okanagan Mission Huskies blanked the Pleasant Valley Hawks of Armstrong 38-0.
Fulton visits Westsyde Tuesday, Oct. 25; the Panthers take on the Titans in South Kamloops Wednesday, Oct. 26,; and the Hawks host the Rutland Voodoos at 2:30 p.m. at PVSS Thursday, Oct. 26.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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