Try as they might, the Hugh Boyd Trojans simply weren’t going to find a crack in the armour of the Vernon Panthers.
The West Richmond school saw its outstanding football season conclude last Saturday at B.C. Place Stadium in a 21-7 semi-final loss to the province’s No. 1 ranked “AA” team. The Panthers become the first school from the Interior to reach the championship game in 21 years.
The Trojans fell behind 14-0 early but showed the grit and determination that has carried them all season to still be within a touchdown late in the third quarter.
That’s when Vernon finally got some breathing room on a 15-yard interception returned for a converted touchdown by defensive back Bradley Hladik.
One last Boyd attempt at a comeback was snuffed out in the end zone when quarterback Tyler Moxin’s intended pass to Robbie Conroy bounced off his helmet and into the hands of Hladik again.
The 6-foot-2 Hladik, combined with his older brother Ben (6-foot-4), hindered Boyd’s passing game all aftetrnoon.
“That’s a good defence. We had some mismatch problems for sure. Smaller guys running around out there trying to get open,” said Boyd head coach Bill Haddow. “They are pretty solid all away across the board. I thought we could run the ball better than we did but they were tougher inside than we thought.
“Football comes down to big plays and there’s usually two or three in every game. Honestly, I can’t think of one we made today. It was tough sledding out there.”
The Panthers looked like they might run the Trojans out of the stadium by scoring on their first two possessions, including an outstanding catch and run by Ben Hladik. However, Boyd recovered from the tough start and began to battle back, culminating with Moxin scoring on a third down sneak with 5:25 left in the opening half.
They had a chance to pull even before the intermission but Moxin’s pass into the end zone, on a fourth and four gamble from the Vernon 14-yard-line with nine seconds left, fell incomplete.
The Trojans then spent much of the third quarter hemmed in their own end after taking the second half kickoff and getting stuffed on fourth and one from their own 31-yard-line. The defence held firm, highlighted by back-to-back blocked field goals, but subsequent poor field position led to Bradley Hladik’s pick six.
“You need to make some plays and take some chances,” added Haddow of the fourth down gambles. “We knew it was going to be tough getting in that (scoring) position often. “If we score there it’s 14-14 going into halftime.
“You have to put trust in our guys like we have all year and that’s what we we did (on the fourth and one). We kept thinking if we only could get a crease we could maybe break a long one.
“We were a little understaffed today again with our bench but the kids played their guts out. We asked some kids to do a lot out there.”
End zone…
Four Trojans were named to the Provincial “AA” All-Star Team and honoured at B.C. High School Football’s awards banquet on Tuesday night at the Italian Culture Centre. Grade 12s Tyler Moxin (quarterback), Kyle Lambert (offensive lineman), Nikos Lazarakis (offensive lineman) and Grade 11 Reece Mok (running back).
