The junior Blues set the standard for gridiron greatness at Paul Kane High School this week by winning the first football championship in school history.
Paul Kane defeated the Bev Facey Falcons 18-10 Thursday to capture the Metro Edmonton league Premier Conference title and complete a season to remember for the first-year Blues.
"It's the greatest feeling in the world right now," Grade 10 co-captain Graeme Loerke said during the post-game celebration. "This is an entire season of hard work in practices and it was just good in the end to have the execution to be able to pull it off.
"This is so great. It really paves the way for the rest of Paul Kane football for the years to come,"
The last junior team from St. Albert to capture the premier crown was the St. Albert Hawks in 2006.
"To do what we did is awesome. I'm so happy to be here right now," said quarterback Cory Knott, the Grant Yuzyk Award winner as the junior league's most valuable player.
The Blues didn't miss much of a beat while Knott sat out the second half with an injured right hand, although they did need a strong effort from their defence to ensure the victory.
"He was our star. He was raking in all the touchdowns," Loerke said of Knott. "We really had to pull it out when he was injured and it took an entire team to win it in the end."
With the Blues in front 17-0 at halftime, Tyler Turner was shifted from slotback to quarterback to fill in for Knott and did an admirable job moving the offence.
"Tyler did awesome. He hadn't really done much as the backup because he was a starting receiver so it was really impressive of him to go out there and do it," said Knott.
The first junior MVP from St. Albert since Mike Spagnolo of the Hawks in 2008 had mixed emotions when his name was announced as the award's recipient.
"It means a lot. I'm so happy, but even to win the game was good enough for me," said Knott, arguably the most talented junior or senior quarterback in St. Albert this year. "I was just really upset after I hurt my hand near the end of the second quarter. It was really disappointing I couldn't play and help out the team."
Team of destiny
A total team effort put the Blues on top. They played with pride and passion, dominated the time of possession while controlling the line of scrimmage, and their execution on offence and defence was exceptional.
"Everyone was just ready for this game. They were going as hard as they could and put everything they had on the field," Knott said.
The Blues exploded for two touchdowns in the opening five minutes and led by 15 after the first quarter.
Isaac Kong kicked off the second half with a wind-aided single point to put the Blues up by 18.
Facey got on the scoreboard with 4:10 left in the third quarter with a safety. A five-yard TD and two-point convert run with 2:50 to play made the score look closer than it really was.
"We got lucky that we got up on them so fast," Knott said. "Luckily we didn't get cocky about it and let up on them. We kept going hard."
The Blues needed only four plays to score on their first possession. After a three-yard run by Greg Fleming on third and short, Knott gave the Paul Kane fans a thrill with a shifty 51-yard bootleg. He faked out a defender in front of the 40, then hugged the right sideline strip en route to the end zone. Kong's convert hit the crossbar.
"It felt amazing to do that on the very first series. I was so happy," said Knott, 15, who ran wild for close to 100 yards in the first half.
The first time on offence Facey went two-and-out and punted from its 42. Frankie White fielded the kick, showed off some dance moves before busting through a hole untouched and going 69 yards for the touchdown. Kong's convert was good.
"Those touchdowns really got the momentum moving," Loerke said. "They were huge for us to get them because if we hadn't it would've been a completely different game."
After another punt by Facey, White weaved his magic through traffic before was he dragged down at the Facey 38. The Blues eventually turned the ball over on downs at the 13. Three plays later, Facey conceded a safety to end the quarter.
In the second quarter, Knott hooked up with Eric Chaboyer for two completions. On the second reception for 18 yards, Chaboyer was blindsided by a defender but still hung on to the ball at the Facey 36. An unnecessary roughness penalty against Facey on a fake punt by Knott kept the drive going.
The Blues couldn't convert on a third-and-goal from the four-yard line but Facey's offence was unable to move the ball and they gave up a safety with 2:06 left in the half.
In the second half the Blues rose to the challenge defensively to prevent Facey from mounting a serious comeback. Leading the charge with multiple tackles were Loerke and Fleming, two-way threats at linebacker and running back.
Fleming also battled hard for some crucial third-down runs late in the game while operating behind a rambunctious offensive line.
Both teams were 4-0 entering the final after placing first in their respective pools. The Blues finished 7-1 overall.
"It's been a great year. Everybody is so happy," said Loerke.
