VSS Junior Panthers collecting hardware (YouTube image)

By Kevin Rothwell

Run and gun 83 point game

VSS Junior Panthers win provincial football championship

Dec 2, 2023 | 1:15 PM

The Vernon Secondary School (VSS) Junior Varsity Panthers dominated on the ground, in the air and on defense to win the provincial championship game at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver on Saturday.

The Junior Varsity AA final featured the Panthers and the Parksville-Qualicum Ballenas Whalers.

Vernon quarterback and kicker Diego Tamaz put in a MVP performance, throwing bullet passes and using his legs to power VSS to a 61-22 victory.

Tamaz is also the kicker for the Senior Varsity team which plays later Saturday in their championship game.

The Whalers suffered a number of injuries and eventually had to put their top wide receiver in at pivot after both their starting QBs and back-up were taken out by injury.

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The Panthers held a 13-8 lead after the first, 32-8 at the half, and put the game out of reach in the third at 54-22, before adding another touchdown in the fourth.

Owen West, Dom Zaino, Ayden McDonald and Ayden Stringer had outstanding performances for the junior Cats.

The Panthers lost 13-12 to the Windsor Dukes in the 2022 provincial final.