Johnny Bright Park – The comeback kids did it again.
Down but never out, the St. Albert 49ers rose to the challenge in the second half for back-to-back playoff wins en route to provincials.
And the 21-14 decision against the Fort Saskatchewan Lightning in the Tier 3 bantam final on a chilly Saturday afternoon was extra special for the 49ers after rallying from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Edmonton Mustangs 21-14 the week before in the semifinals.
"I'm proud of these guys. We did the unbelievable," exclaimed wideout Connor Florence during the post-game celebration.
In both wins the 49ers stumbled through the first half before dominating the rest of the game.
"It's just our will to win, I guess. We wanted it, that's what brought it back for us," said Zach Dreger, a dangerous two-way 49er.
In the Capital District Minor Football Association final the 49ers trailed 6-0 at halftime after fumbling the ball away twice. They generated three first downs and had nothing longer than three- and four-play drives in the first half.
"We just weren't in the right mindset but in the second half we got together as a team and got the win," Florence said.
The Lightning struck in the second quarter with a 25-yard touchdown reception on third down with 4:10 left until the break. They ended the half with four first downs, but were held to only one the rest of the game while generating 126 yards of total offence in the loss.
The invigorated 49ers rattled off six first downs in the second half. Quarterback Brendan Guy engineered an eight-play drive, ending with Dreger's one-yard TD catch, and a nine-play series, culminating with Jackson Tulloch's 20-yard TD reception.
"We were struggling in the first half but we came back strong," Dreger said. "We got some motivation going in the dressing room (at halftime) and that sure did it for us."
Late in the third quarter, the speedy Florence was on side to recover a punt at the Lightning 25, setting up Dreger's TD and Roberto Parrotta's convert to put the 49ers on top 7-6.
"That really got the guys going. You've got to do something like that to get the team excited," said Florence.
The Grade 9 Lorne Akins student also made a great catch for nine yards on second down from Guy, who showed remarkable poise to get the throw away while under pressure.
Guy's quarterback sneak to the 15 on third down kept the 49ers rolling. On second and 10, Guy's throw fell incomplete but the Lightning were flagged for roughing the passer.
On first and goal at the one, Guy hit a wide-open Dreger in the endzone with 57 seconds to go before quarter time.
"I was a little nervous because I fumbled the first one so I just rubbed my gloves and made them sticky and I got it," said Dreger, referring to his catch and run before coughing up the ball on a tackle at the Lightning 47 with 2:58 to go in the first half.
Dreger, 14, who also doubles as a rock-solid lineman and snapper, finished the game with three catches for 20 yards.
The reliable Corbin Stewart was the top receiver with four receptions for 37 yards.
Blocked punt
In the fourth quarter, Anthony Swecera plowed through the line to block a punt and recover it at the Lightning 23. Ty Beck then went to work carrying the mail, and four plays later scored from the two with 4:49 on the clock. Beck's best run was an 11-yard gain through traffic on third and one to the two. He racked up 90 yards on 17 handoffs in the win.
On the next offensive series by the Lightning the 49ers stopped them on downs at the St. Albert 42.
Back on offence, Beck gobbled up yards on the ground and also snagged a key nine-yard pass. After Guy gained a first down on third and inches, he hit Tulloch on second and eight for a 20-yard catch and run for six points. Parrotta's third convert of the game made it 21-6 with 55 seconds left.
Guy was 9-for-13 passing for 88 yards and two TDs. He also had four carries for 17 yards.
After the kickoff following Tulloch's major, the Lightning closed out the scoring with 50-yard quarterback draw after the 49ers were flagged for pass interference on first down. The two-point conversion pass was successful with 37 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing kickoff, the ball was drilled right to Swecera on the front line and the 49ers maintained possession to close out the win.
"The game was crazy," Florence said. "I'm just glad we won, especially after we lost to them."
Last month the Lightning zapped the 49ers 36-23 in St. Albert with first place on the line in the Tier 3/4 division. The visitors led 14-7 at halftime and 22-7 after three quarters.
Both teams finished the regular season with identical 5-1 records.
"We took a tough loss in the middle of the season and that kind of sparked our energy a little bit to come back and beat these guys. They hadn't seen our best in that game. They finally saw our best, and we came out with a win," said Florence, 14.
The victory also propelled the 49ers (7-1) into the provincial north final against the Bonnyville Bandits. Kickoff is 1 p.m. this Saturday in Bonnyville.
The winner will travel to play the Olds Bulldogs or Calgary Wildcats in the Nov. 17 final.
"To go to provincials feels pretty good. It's going to be fun," said Dreger, a Grade 9 Sir George Simpson student.
