The dawn of a new season marks a fresh start for the Paul Kane Blues in high school football.
“The level of enthusiasm everyone has is high,” said Luke Eady, a returning player from last year’s 7-3 Blues. “I’m extremely excited. We’ve got a lot of new talent, a lot of new bodies older and younger. There is talent on both sides of the ball.”
The new-look Blues, with 39 registered players, are young with potential.
“This is probably one of the strongest group of athletes I’ve ever had here at Paul Kane but football IQ is not as strong because they haven’t played or they’re just coming into high school from the bantam level,” said Ron Strecker, head coach of the 2017 division two Miles conference finalists in the metro Edmonton league and Tier II (750 to 1,249 students) provincial north semifinalists.
“It’s going to be fun. We’re actually really excited to see what we’re able to do. I know everyone is kind of projecting us to finish in the middle of the pack but we’ll see what happens,” Strecker added. “I just want to be competitive and then we’ll see where it goes from there.
“Every year you never know what to expect because other teams lose players, other teams have their young guys coming in, so you don’t know what you have until you get onto the football field and go. I’m sure other teams are in the same situation as we are; I guess it’s whoever picks it up faster.”
The arrival of graduating bantams from the St. Albert Palmer 49ers (7-2), Tier I finalists in the Capital District Minor Football Association, plus the addition of newbies to the sport will join forces “with a solid crew coming back” to help replace the 12 departing Blues.
“We have a great young group coming in. I lucked out and I got a number of the bantam guys and I worked hard during my phys-ed classes talking to a lot of the boys that are really good athletes and I finally convinced them to come out,” said Strecker, a Paul Kane teacher. “In spring camp they looked really good and the first couple of days in fall camp we’ve looked good but one thing in practice is a completely different thing in games, so in that sense it’s going to be a little trying especially for all the new guys. It’s a big jump from bantam ball to senior ball, and then definitely for my guys that I’ve recruited that have never played the game before, that’s a big step too.”
Jacob King, a U16 Team Alberta quarterback who also excels at rugby, will run the offence in his Grade 10 season.
“He’s a good athlete, he’s fast and he can throw,” Strecker said.
Konor Campbell, a projected running back, and Cuyler Matheson are also expected to contribute as first-year football players.
“Good hockey players and good rugby players,” Strecker said.
As for the returning players, “I’m going to be relying a lot on the two (Grade 12) Ethans, Wedman and Brandsma. Wedman is a receiver and DB (as well as back-up quarterback) and Brandsma is going to be the anchor of our O-line and D-line,” Strecker said. “Rylan Baerg is another one. I’m looking for big leadership and big things out of him on the defence as a Grade 12 guy as a linebacker, and he’ll be playing some line for us, too.”
Eady, 17, is encouraged how the Blues are shaping up
“Our defence is going to be extremely strong and we’ve got lots of new talent on offence,” said the Grade 12 defensive back and receiver. “It’s almost like the team has taken on a new perspective coming from last season where we didn’t score an offensive touchdown for like the last 10 quarters that we played. There is just a high level of enthusiasm to bounce back.”
The Blues needed a GPS device to locate the end zone late in the season as the offence folded like a cheap tent in losses of 37-0 to the Strathcona Lords in the Miles final at Commonwealth Stadium and 44-0 to the host St. Joseph Celtics of Grande Prairie in the Tier II north semifinal during a scoring drought of 128 minutes and 31 seconds that started in the Miles semifinal against the St. Albert High Skyhawks. The last touchdown of the season for the Blues was scored with 6:59 gone in the 16-3 win over the Skyhawks and the team's last points were a safety with 8:31 left in the first half of the playoff match.
“That was something that we as a coaching staff talked about when the season ended. It definitely left a bitter taste in my mouth to be shut out in two straight games and not only get shut out but just not really being able to do much; and on the other side of the field giving up 37 and 44 points it was a tough, tough pill to swallow,” Strecker said. “It was sort of a long off-season but at the same time it was exciting because we knew we were going do some things differently this year.
“You have to be able to run the ball in November and October so that’s going to be a big focus for us this year. We have to be able to run the football and with the athletes that we have I think we’re going to be pretty good at it, at least I’m hoping we are.”
The Blues are 1-5 in five consecutive provincial playdown appearances since the team’s inaugural 2011 season and are 1-3 against the Celtics.
Last year’s Blues qualified for their third Miles final in five years, including the undefeated 2013 and 2014 Miles championships, after going 1-6-1 in the 2016 division one Carr conference. The Blues were also 2015 Carr finalists.
“It was a great season; we just kind of got burnt out at the end,” said Eady, a safety for the 2018 St. Albert Storm midget team. “The team attitude had gone down as well. (The Blues) had lost multiple games to Grande Prairie (22-1 in 2014 and 33-9 in 2015), so we kind of went into it with a losing attitude and I think that was one of the problems. But this year it’s completely 180 degrees turned around. It’s going to be a completely different season.
“People aren’t going to see what’s coming this year. Everyone has written us off and I think we're going to give them a good run for their money.”
Eady played six-man football in Jasper before moving to St. Albert for his Grade 11 season and was awestruck by the experience.
“It was almost like being in the States playing in a football movie: You’re going to the championship and you’re playing in this professional stadium. The chance that we got to play in Commonwealth was something else. It was one of the best things getting to go onto that field in this massive stadium and even though it was in the snow it was almost like a fairy tale. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
THIRD DOWN: The Blues huddle up Sept. 1 against the host Cochrane Cobras, the Alberta Bowl Tier III (450 to 749 students) champions in exhibition action and the first league game is Sept. 6 against the McNally Tigers at 7:30 p.m. at Emerald Hills.
The Sept. 21 rivalry game against the Skyhawks kicks off at 5 p.m. at Larry Olexiuk Field.
