STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.

John Barsby, NDSS play for provincial junior varsity football championship

Dec 2, 2016 | 1:03 PM

NANAIMO — The best two AA junior varsity football teams in the province are both from Nanaimo.

NDSS and John Barsby will clash in the final game of the season, the Subway Bowl, at BC Place on Saturday.

Barsby finished with a record of 6-0 in the regular season, with NDSS sitting right behind at 4-2 in the island division.

Both teams have been off for over a week after the Bulldogs beat Vernon 24-8 and the Islanders won 20-14 over SRT.  

If there is an edge it would go to John Barsby with the better record and a 2-0 record in the season series.

Nate Stevenson says his NDSS team may be the underdogs, but his players won’t be looking at it that way.

“We just want to approach the game and play our football game. Whatever the odds makers and the stats say, so be it. We’re going to go in there and play our brand of Islander football,” said Stevenson.

Bulldogs coach Rob Stevenson says the spectacle of playing a cross town rival in BC Place can cause some players to “fold like a tent” and he doesn’t want to see that happen to his group.

“When a big play is made during a regular game you can hear a few people yelling but you can also hear the traffic in the background going down the road. You get in the dome and there’s a big play, there’s a wave of noise,” said Stevenson.

The rival coaches are also brothers and Nate says that dynamic is likely easier on him and Rob than it is on his family. 

“I always worry about my parents. What are they doing? Who are they cheering for? I think it’s tougher on them than it is for us two boys,” said Nate. 

Kick-off for the 2016 Subway Bowl is at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at BC Place.

There has never been an all Nanaimo final before — now in 2016 it’s guaranteed there will be a JV champion in the harbour city.

===

Weekend Scoreboard

BCHL
Clippers vs Cowichan Valley – Friday 7 p.m. Frank Crane Arena
Clippers @ Cowichan Valley – Saturday 7 p.m. Island Savings Centre

VIJHL
Buccaneers @ Oceanside – Saturday 7:30 p.m. Oceanside Place

BCMML
Silvertips @ South Island – Friday 1:30 p.m. Lake Cowichan Rec Centre
Silvertips vs South Island – Saturday 12:45 p.m. Nanaimo Ice Centre

Times Cup Rugby – Semi Final
Hornets vs Westshore RFC – Saturday 1 p.m. May Richards Bennett Pioneer Park

PACWEST
Exhibition Men’s Basketball vs Seattle Blue Angels – Saturday 2 p.m. VIU Gymnasium