The KSS Owls Junior Football team is enjoying the afterglow of a championship performance. The team won the provincial championship Saturday and made history while doing it. It's the first time KSS has won a provincial championship, and they did it in a decisive upset, winning 38-12 over Victoria's top-ranked Belmont Bulldogs. Owls Head coach Kendall Gross came into KelownaNow along with players Nate Beauchemin, Caeleb Schlachter, and Noah Gross to talk to us about the victorious end to a great season.
Belmont had the Owls a little bit rattled when they managed to get possession with an on-side kick to start the game. And the Bulldogs held first-half leads of 6-0 and 12-7. But Kelowna responded in the dying seconds of the first half when Nick Tonagai took a Nate Beauchemin pass and scampered into the end zone to give the Owls a 14-12 lead.
Sure tackling on defence and a relentless and balanced attack on offence had the Owls pulling ahead in the second half, outscoring their Victoria rivals 24-0. Noah Gross would finish the game with a pair of touchdowns.
The Owls win was not only the first provincial junior championship for the school but for any Central Okanagan team.
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