FREDERICTON - The Fredericton Junior Black Kats put their noses to the grindstone Sunday afternoon at Chapman Field - and came away with the New Brunswick bantam football championship.

Running back Jake DeWolfe racked up some key yards along the ground before driving across from the one-yard line for the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter and went up the middle for 38 yards to set up the fourth quarter clincher by Garret Gee to lift the Kats to a come from behind 20-8 victory over the Hampton Huskies.

The win completed a doubleheader sweep for the Capital Area Minor Football Association. Earlier in the afternoon, the George Street Crusaders rolled to a 32-0 shutout of the Lancaster Abbies.

Both Fredericton teams will now bid for Maritime championships this weekend against Nova Scotia opposition.

The Kats opened the scoring in the first quarter when starter Alex Dee connected with wide receiver Mathieu MacDonald on a 26-yard pass and run on the final play of the first quarter. The Huskies got it back when Ben Shepard, their impressive pivot, put together a second quarter drive highlighted by a 44-yard pass and run to Sam Merrithew that set Hampton up first and 10 from the Kats 30. They marched it from there to the Kats three, where Peter Morell finally cracked over. The booted convert made it 8-6 for the Huskies at the half.

The key play came in the third quarter. The Kats were trailing with the clock ticking, failing to move the ball in three downs and, facing fourth and long on the Hampton 52, forced to punt it away.

Tom McGinn got downfield and pounced on a fumble by Hampton punt return man Geoffrey Wilson, and the Kats took over first and 10 from the Hampton 23. Six plays later, DeWolfe was bringing it to the house - and the Kats were on their way to bringing home the Samuel Babb Trophy as provincial bantam champs.

Meanwhile, the George Street Crusaders captured the Bob Pierce Memorial Trophy as provincial peewee football champions with their shutout win against Lancaster. The Crusaders played solid defence all day and that allowed them time to get the offence untracked.

Quarterback Matt Murphy finished off a couple of drives with quarterback keepers for touchdowns in each of the first and second quarters to give the Crusaders a 16-0 halftime edge; halfback Noah Zilbert completed a 22-yard halfback option pass to Klinton Miller on a third and long and then took it 24 yards to the house on the next play and then booted the two-point convert to make it 24-0, and fullback Blake Murphy sealed the win with a 27-yard touchdown run as the Crusaders cruised to the win. They'll host the Nova Scotia champions for the Maritime championship next weekend.

"After our second touchdown, I just know our team felt really good and really pumped up," said Zilbert, who demonstrated good speed to get outside and, when the situation called for it, demonstrated he could throw the ball downfield on the halfback option too.

"We were beaten by a better team,'' Abbies head coach Bruce Watts said. "They shut us down on offence and I give them full marks.''

While disappointed with the setback, the Lancaster coach said he takes pride in the Abbies' 10-1 season and added that it's an accomplishment to finish second in the province among 21 peewee teams.

"Our players were quite upbeat (after the game) despite the defeat,'' Watts said. "The players learned a lot during the course of the year. We certainly got a lot of positive feedback from the players and the parents. All in all, I think we had a very successful season.''

- with files from the Telegraph-Journal