Possibly the most anti-climactic finish to an exciting final few minutes, the Prince George Kodiaks and Valley Huskers fought hard to a 35-35 draw.
“Tough team, Chilliwack’s a good team, we found a way to hurt ourselves again, that’s eight games in a row of hurting ourselves,” said Kodiaks Head Coach Jamie Boreham.
“We dug deep and tried to give ourselves a chance to win, we had a couple chances at the end and we didn’t execute on those two plays and we come up short.”
On the Huskers’ first offensive play of the game, they passed the ball backwards into their own endzone and it was dropped, but the play was blown dead as an incompletion.
After that, the two teams traded punts for most of the first half.
The Huskers were able to come away with a pair of field goals, and Andrew Brown took a punt return 50 yards to the house.
The Huskers answered right back, Quarterback Key’Shawn Dorsey found Arman Sharma for a 59-yard touchdown pass.
The Kodiaks offence started to come alive in the second quarter.
After a 16-yard chip shot for the Huskers and a big return from Brown, Sawyer Thiessen called his own number for a short touchdown run, but it was brought back on penalties.
The Kodiaks settled for a 22-yard field goal from Brady Harper.
The Huskers fumbled on their own 19-yard line with ten seconds to go in the half, and the Kodiaks recovered.
Thiessen found Kayle Cowley in the endzone, giving the Kodiaks a 17-15 lead heading into halftime.
On the first drive of the second half, Hayden Matheson came away with an interception for the Kodiaks, but they couldn’t get anything out of it, going two and out.
After a few more traded punts, the Kodiaks were eventually able to put a drive together and find the endzone on a six-yard scamper from Thiessen.
Thiessen called his own number again on the successful two-point try, giving the Kodiaks a 25-15 lead.
Business picked up in the fourth quarter, with the Huskers coming away with a big play that set up a 22-yard rushing touchdown for Runningback Jawad Harb.
On their next drive, the Huskers found the endzone again, with Dorsey finding Sharma again for an 11-yard score, giving the Huskers a 29-25 lead with the extra point.
After a bobbled and dropped interception in the endzone, the Kodiaks settled for a 39-yard field goal from Brady Harper.
On the ensuing Husker Drive, Kodiaks Defensive Back Ryder Stoughton made a huge play to break up a deep Husker pass on second down.
On the next play, Huskers punter Carson Turner fumbled the ball, and Stoughton brought him down to give the Kodiaks prime field position.
The Kodiaks made the best of their field position, with Thiessen finding Nik Ramirez for an eight-yard touchdown with 1:40 on the clock. The two point try was no good, giving the Kodiaks a 34-29 lead.
The Huskers put together an excellent drive, culminating in a six-yard rushing touchdown for Dorsey.
With an unsuccessful two point, try, the Huskers took a 35-34 lead with just 40 seconds to go.
Myron Brown made a huge return on the ensuing kickoff, bringing the Kodiaks down to the Valley 31-yard line, and penalties adding on and pushing the Kodiaks to the 17-yard line.
The Kodiaks killed some clock, and brought out Brady Harper for a 15-yard field goal with about 10 seconds on the clock.
The Kodiaks sideline went from a feeling of elation to shock in a matter of seconds.
Harper missed wide left, but still sent the ball through the endzone to tie the game at 35 with ten seconds to go.
“It’s not on the last kick, it’s on the multiple plays that led up to us needing the last kick,” Boreham said.
“Bad things happen when you leave it up to chance and fate.”
“We came out and battled in the second half, they put some drives together late to take the lead, our return game has been solid right from the jump,” Thiessen said.
“As an offence we had an opportunity to seal it, and we just didn’t get it done.”
The Huskers were able to get a pair of plays off after the missed field goal.
On Valley’s final offensive play of the game, the receiver kicked the ball forward, but a Husker ahead of the ball when it was kicked touched it next, resulting in a turnover, giving the Kodiaks one more shot on offence.
The play resulted in an incompletion, ending the game at a 35-35 draw.
The Kodiaks are heading into a bye week, giving the opportunity to rest heading into the final weeks of the season.
“Having a bye week late is a blessing in disguise,” Thiessen said.
“We want to keep this momentum going, but it’s a good opportunity to get the minds reset, and kind of move on, it’s two tough games in a row now, one tough beat and one tie now, it’s a good week to have off, and we’ll come back ready to go for Kamloops at home.”
The Kodiaks (4-3-1) are third in the BC Football Conference.
The BCFC standings are here.
The full Kodiaks schedule is here.
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