The Vernon Panthers are back for redemption.
The Cats advanced to the B.C. High School AA Junior Varsity Football championship game Saturday, Dec. 2, at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver with a convincing 52-12 romp over the hometown Robert Bateman Timberwolves of Abbotsford in a provincial semifinal Wednesday, Nov. 22.
Vernon will take on the Ballenas Whalers of Parksville in the provincial final. Ballenas advanced by shutting out the Holy Cross Crusaders of Surrey 30-0 in the other AA semifinal.
The Panthers fell 13-12 to the Windsor Dukes of North Vancouver in the 2022 B.C. championships, stopped four times by Dukes inside the Windsor five-yard line – three times from the one-yard line – in the dying minutes.
After spotting the host Timberwolves a 6-0 lead Wednesday, Vernon rolled past Bateman. Ayden McDonald collected four touchdowns for Vernon while single majors went to Owen West, Ben Butler and kicker Diego Tamez, who booted seven converts and added a field goal.
The provincial final will be an intriguing matchup of a team that has scored 119 points in its two playoff games – Vernon – and one which has not allowed a point in its two post-season matchups – Ballenas.
SENIOR VARSITY
The Vernon Panthers take on the upstart Nechako Valley Vikings of Vanderhoof in a B.C. High School AA Senior Varsity semifinal Saturday, Nov. 25, at B.C. Place.
The Panthers advanced to the final four Friday, Nov. 17, dumping the South Kamloops Titans 54-14 at Greater Vernon Athletic Park.
The Vikings won their first Northern Conference championship, then handled the Westsyde Blue Wave of Kamloops 34-7 in a provincial quarterfinal.
The teams have met once before in a provincial first-round matchup back in 2011 with the Cats prevailing 21-14 in overtime. Vernon defeated the Vanderhoof squad 44-8 at GVAP in a 2022 pre-season contest.
The winner Saturday advances to the B.C. championship game Dec. 2 at B.C. Place to play either the Windsor Dukes of North Vancouver or the John Barsby Bulldogs of Nanaimo.
Windsor upset the top-ranked Robert Bateman Timberwolves of Abbotsford 15-13 in one quarterfinal. The Bulldogs – who eliminated the Panthers in the AA semifinal in 2022 – blanked Holy Cross 19-0 in their quarterfinal.
MVP
It’s a position that doesn’t attract the attention of the limelight.
But it does attract the eyes of coaches, live and on film.
Panthers’ offensive lineman Mark Johnson was named B.C. AA Football Provincial All-Star Offensive MVP.
“As an offensive-defensive lineman and linebacker, it’s very hard to be named MVP as it’s dominated by quarterbacks and running backs,” said Vernon head coach Sean Smith. “However, Mark has proven himself to be the best in the province as was recognized by the coaches of B.C.”
Johnson is the fourth Panther in team history to be named provincial MVP. He follows Ben Hladik (2016), Charles Lemay (2018), and Zack Smith (2019).
The Panthers placed three other players on the offensive all-star team: quarterback Cole Budgen; running back Jonah Lee; and receiver Jeff Curtis.
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