The North Langley Bears turned a tight game into a one-sided rout, preserving their perfect season with a 38-13 victory in the provincial championship final.
The Bears faced the Salmon Arm Chargers in the bantam nine-man provincial final on Nov. 22 at Kamloops’ Hillside Stadium. And right from the start, North Langley was in control as the opening drive for Kamloops saw the ball sail over the punter’s head to set up the Bears in great field position.
And from there, Zander Bailey scored the first of his four touchdowns in the game. Bailey also earned game MVP honours.
The Chargers did make a game of it and briefly led 13-12, but North Langley shut the door the rest of the way, scoring the game’s final 26 points.
Bailey led the offence with 228 yards on 24 carries, but it was the introduction of Pablo Wigwigan to the backfield which overwhelmed the Chargers. Wigwigan carried the ball just three times, but rushed for two touchdowns and 109 yards.
Caleb Nielsen added another dimension to the attack with 35 yards rushing.
Throughout the season, the North Langley defense proved almost impossible to score upon in second half play and this game proved no exception as they shut down the Chargers.
And if the Chargers managed to get past Mason Block, Jacob Price and Jake Evans on the Bears line, they were quickly brought down by Connor Hurley, Riley Jones, or Wigwigan. Jacob Stebbings and Jones contributed touchdown saving tackles on the two occasions when Salmon Arm running backs appeared to break free downfield.
When Andy Hanlen slammed a Chargers ballcarrier to the ground to end the game the Bears officially finished the season undefeated while earning their first provincial championship.
