Chaz Edmead, one of Bermuda’s rising football stars, scored a hat-trick for Saltus Grammar School to win the Bermuda Schools Sports Federation middle school boys final at the Clyde Best Centre of Excellence on Saturday

Edmead, a member of the Bermuda team that did the island proud by finishing second at the Under-14 Caribbean Football Union Challenge Series qualifiers in Trinidad & Tobago in August, led Saltus to a 5-1 win over Warwick Academy and was voted MVP for his team.

It was the second consecutive hat-trick for the Saltus captain after he scored three goals in a 6-0 semi-final triumph over Mount Saint Agnes Academy.

Edmead notched a brace in the first half and completed his hat-trick after the break, with Adam Barritt and Mackay Browne weighing in with the other goals. Ja’Zhari Ingham scored for Warwick.

“I’m full of emotions because it’s the first time that I've won a cup and MVP at the same time,” 13-year-old Edmead told The Royal Gazette.

“Our team played really well together, which led to me scoring those goals, so they deserve all the credit.

“In our previous matches we played individually which led us to concede a lot of goals and we lost. Today, we played together as a team, we pressed as a team and defended as a team. We just played fluid football and that ultimately got us the win.”

De'Ari Trott, the Warwick MVP, proved his versatility by shifting from centre back to leading the hunt for goals in the second half.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Trott said. “We gave away the lead early through a little slip-up at the back. We kept working hard and ended up getting a goal, but we couldn't get the win and that’s how the game is sometimes.

“We learnt that we have to be more stable at the back, balance between the midfield, defence and the attack third of the field. It was nice to know that we’re good enough to get to the finals. It’s now a matter of proving ourselves against the other schools.”

CedarBridge Academy fought back from a goal down to beat The Berkeley Institute 5-4 on penalties to win the senior school boys title.

Defensive midfielder Amir Brangman-Johnson was the hero for CedarBridge with a second-half header from a corner to make it 1-1 after Zias Smith had given Berkeley the lead with a brilliant free kick from the edge of the box.

Brangman-Johnson, the CedarBridge MVP, was also one of the scorers in the shoot-out, in which goalkeeper Jahneel Maria saved Jayden Belboda Raveneau’s spot kick.

“The game was very intense from the beginning as we went 1-0 down, but the half-time talk from our coach, Dennis Eve, saw us pick up our game,” Brangman-Johnson said.

“Our intensity changed in the second half and we told ourselves that we could do it because we were trailing by just one goal.

“It really felt good bringing the team back into the match when I scored that goal. We played against a really good team, they were well-structured and gave us a hard time.”

Khari Sharrieff was outstanding for Berkeley, especially in the first half during which he controlled things in the middle of the park. The midfielder, who went on to play for Wolves in the Premier Division a few hours later, felt that Belboda Raveneau, whose second-half effort came off the upright, deserved the MVP accolade more than him.

“It was a tragedy really because I feel we played really well throughout the season,” Sharrieff said.

“I feel like we were the better team during this final, but at the end of the day CedarBridge took it.

“In the second half we got tired. I feel like we made too many changes and that affected the way we played.

“The MVP award for us should have gone to Jayden. I feel like he had the best game, he was very solid and he saved us most of the game.”

A dominant display from Berkeley saw them overcome Saltus 5-0 to clinch the senior school girls title for a fourth consecutive year. Kia Burchall’s side scored three goals in the opening seven minutes and while Saltus had an improved second half, they could not breach the Berkeley defence.

Daley Outerbridge scored twice, with the other goals coming from MVP Azae Burrows, Janiya Sealey and Eva Tuzo.

“It feels good to win MVP after playing a good match and scoring against Saltus,” Burrows said. “We played a good passing game, took our chances much earlier and finished things off in the second half.

“I’m just going to keep working hard and try to get far with my football career using my strengths.”

Saltus MVP Jaya Dillas savoured the experience of playing in a sport that is not really her best, as she is a netball player.

“I’m so happy to be named MVP because football is not my main sport, I’m a netball player,” Dillas said.

“Even though we didn’t win, we still worked and made our school proud. It was pretty tough for us, we could have done better in terms of communication especially in defence.”

The first match of the day saw Warwick overcome Bermuda High School 2-1 to secure the middle school girls title.

Devi Samuels scored two first-half goals for Warwick, while MVP Avery Taylor pulled one back for BHS. Riley Khan was adjudged the most outstanding player in the match for Warwick.