Football is a game of inches.
In Al Pacino鈥檚 famous speech to his team in the movie Any Given Sunday, he tells his team 鈥楾he inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch.鈥�
The North 91原创 Kodiaks were faced with that situation.
The Kodiaks led 7-0 against the North Surrey Bears in the B.C. Community Football midget provincial championship game on Sunday at Coquitlam鈥檚 Town Centre Park.
The Bears had the ball at the one-yard line 鈥� 12 inches away from scoring what could have been a game-altering touchdown 鈥� in the final minute of the first half.
And twice, North Surrey handed the ball off. Both times, they ran up the middle, but the Kodiaks were having none of it, as the Kodiaks defensive line did not give up an inch, stopping them for no gain.
Buoyed by that huge defensive stand, North 91原创 went into the locker room riding a wave of momentum. The Kodiaks scored two field goals in the second half and while the Bears did find the end zone with two minutes to play, they could not recover the ensuing on-side kick as the Kodiaks held on for a 13-7 victory.
鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for that (goal-line) stand, the game could have gone either way,鈥� admitted North 91原创 coach Chad Henderson. 鈥淭he boys were stoked (at the half).
鈥淭hey stayed calm and just performed.鈥�
The win was also redemption for the Kodiaks, who lost in last year鈥檚 championship final.
鈥淏asically, that was our motivation this year, to get back in and win it,鈥� Henderson said. 鈥淏eginning of the year we used it (as motivation) to light a fire under the boys鈥� butts.鈥�
The Kodiaks finished in top spot during the regular season, including two victories over the Bears.
Week 1 saw North 91原创 prevail 23-14 while in week 8, the Kodiaks rallied from a 20-6 half-time deficit to win 29-27.
The majority of the roster is from North 91原创, but there are also players from Abbotsford, Mission, Maple Ridge and Coquitlam.
Some of the local players have been together for nearly a decade under Henderson, moving through the age-group ranks, and winning a provincial title in 2014 at the bantam level.
Henderson credited the team鈥檚 veteran core of 18-year-olds, as well as his coaching staff, for such a successful season.
鈥淭here was a lot of self-motivation as this was the last game for a lot of them,鈥� he said.
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