The Mission Roadrunners defeated Abby Senior 22-8 to claim the championship in junior varsity Double-A football Saturday at B.C. Place Stadium.

This is the Roadrunners' second JV title in the last three years and the fourth consecutive year they've made it to the finals.

"The string of success our program has had in the last few years reflects the dedication and hard work of a lot of players and coaches," said Mission head coach John Kapty. "Championship football programs aren't built overnight."

He knew he was in tough in the final after the Abby JV squad had defeated Mission earlier in the season.

"We had a difficult playoff road due to two early league losses. We had to play four consecutive conference winners in the playoffs."

In the final, Mission opened the scoring with a two-point safety early in the game.

Abby responded by marching the length of the field, with quarterback Grayson Marquardt's 40-yard scramble to the two-yard line. Chase Claypool followed with a two-yard touchdown plunge and the two-point conversion.

Mission scored before the half but was unable to convert, ending the half tied at 8-8.

Early in the third quarter, Marquardt, went down with a leg injury, hampering the Abby offence in the second half.

Mission put together two long touchdown drives in the third and fourth quarters to end the scoring.

Mission QB Jesse Walker scored all three touchdowns and was named MVP.

"Jesse played a tremendous game. He's been our big play guy all year," said Kapty.

"We really challenged him to come out in the second half and play his best football. He didn't disappoint Not only did he finish strong in ou game and help us win, he went ou and played the entire varsity fina

[Mission vs. South Delta] as well."

Other notable efforts for the Roadrunners came from: Bryce Fillion, rushing for 101 difficult yards in a very physical game; Kane Freestone-Smith was named best lineman for his efforts on both

sides of the ball that included a tackle in the end zone for a 2-point safety; Bicky Gill was the top receiver with five catches for 70 yards; linebacker Peter Kulba led the defence with 13 tackles and Dayton Robertson put up nine tackles.

Defensively Landon Rayburn had two interceptions and Danny Jung had one for Mission.

"It's so great to the see the kids get rewarded for their hard work. This team continued to work hard and get better," said Kapty. "That's the recipe in JV football."

Abby's defence stepped up with six quarterback sacks; Cody Andres and Jordan Goheen having two each;

Pranav Arya had a strong game with a sack and a total of five tackles.

Abbotsford's Chase Claypool was awarded the 'Back of the Game' trophy and the Panthers were honoured at halftime by receiving the Bill Diett Memorial Trophy as the most sportsmanlike team in high school football.

JKonda-Witte@abbotsfordtimes.com