Clarke Park – The season hangs in the balance for the Paul Kane Blues in today’s provincial showdown between the top two Tier II teams in high school football.
Kickoff is 1:30 p.m. in Grande Prairie between the No. 1-ranked St. Joseph’s Celtics (13-0), the defending Alberta Bowl champions, and the No. 2-ranked Blues (8-2) in the Tier II (school population 750 to 1,249) north semifinals.
“Now, it’s either win or go home,” declared head coach Rob Strecker outside the visiting team’s dressing room after Tuesday's 45-6 loss to the Bev Facey Falcons in the Carr division one final. “We knew today that if we lose the football game we still have another football life and the boys are ready. Every game they go out and play their hearts out and I’m sure they will on Saturday.
“I won’t even get them to think about what happens if we lose. You can’t think like that. You’ve just got to go out and play hard and hope that you do what you need to do and go from there.”
The winner plays the No. 7-ranked Lloydminster Barons (6-3) or the No. 9-ranked Austin O'Brien Crusaders (4-6) in the Nov. 21 north final.
The Alberta Bowl is Nov. 28 at Foote Field.
“At the beginning of the year our goal was to make it to the Carr playoffs and then win a provincial championship and not only did we make the Carr playoffs we made the Carr championship game. I’m very, very proud of the boys for accomplishing that goal and now it’s all about getting to that final and winning that final. That’s what it’s all about now,” Strecker said.
The Blues put their first loss after seven wins behind them with the Celtics looming large on the horizon.
“We’re going to keep our heads held high. Even after this loss we’re going to keep pursuing our goals,” said two-way standout Julian Pawlychka. “We just have to get it out of our heads as soon as we can so we can focus on the next game because we have a provincial title to focus on. We’re going to do everything we can to prepare for it and we’re going to put in as much work as we can each day on and off the field.”
The Celtics are winners of 28 straight games and the last loss for the two-time reigning Mighty Peace league champions was 45-28 to the Blues in the 2013 provincial opening round in Grande Prairie
Last year the Celtics beat the Blues 22-1 in the north semifinal at Foote Field.
“We expect a really good run game. Their overall offence is pretty good too,” said Pawlychka, who joins quarterback Brendan Guy, two-way lineman Zach Dreger and running back Ty Beck as third-year Blues, 26-4 during that span after the loss to Facey.
“It will be pretty neat going back up there again. We're looking forward to it but this is a business trip to us as well because we’ve got a lot of work to do and we plan on getting good results out of it,” Pawlychka added.
A veteran Celtics' lineup is led by Taylor Rempel, a Grade 12 running back who is a threat to score every time he touches the ball.
“I believe it’s like eighty or ninety per cent of the team from last year is returning,” Strecker said of the Celtics. “It’s the same offence, same defence. They run the ball hard so we need to be ready for it. They have big slotbacks and blockers, plus Taylor Rempel. Their quarterback can throw the ball but he can also take off and run so we’ve got to watch him.
“At the same time we’ve still got to take care of the ball and we still have to move the sticks and we need to score points. They shut us out last year so we need to be ready for them.”
The Blues are coming off their second playoff game in five nights and the result was disappointing by Paul Kane standards but not unexpected. Facey (10-0) is ranked second in Tier I (1,250-plus students) and seventh overall in Canada. The only team to beat the Blues this year (a pick-six with seconds to play ended the 50-40 thriller Sept. 18 at Johnny Bright Park) celebrated its second consecutive Carr championship as winners of seven of the last nine finals.
Facey has outscored teams 513-113 after Grade 11 speedster Chuba Hubbard, the overwhelming Haliburton Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the Carr, exploded for touchdowns of 80 yards to end the first quarter, 90 yards with 5:26 left in the half, 10 yards with 54.5 seconds to go before the break and 57 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter.
“The guy is a phenomenal athlete. He really gives their offence the upper hand and it creates many challenges for a lot of defences across the conference in trying to contain and tackle him,” said Pawlychka, who lined up at outside linebacker and offensive tackle against Facey.
The first St. Albert team to play for the Carr crown since the St. Albert High Skyhawks in 2012 opened the scoring on their second offensive possession as Tanner Buchanan pulled off an over-the shoulder catch in coverage in the endzone on a pin-point pass by Brendan Guy with 1:30 to play in the first quarter. The 70-yard drive featured a 20-yard reception by Aidan Mueller and a pass interference flag on Facey covering Buchanan that put that ball at the 21.
The Blues would go on to recover Rosario Cammarata's short kick-off with junior call-up Cordell Callioux leading the charge but the offence went two-and-out and punted. On first down, Hubbard galloped 80 yards into the endzone. He also ran in the two-point conversion.
After the kick-off the Blues started at their 37 and a series of first downs on pass completions to Mueller and Fred Jolicoeur and Beck’s 12-yard gain was followed by a big sideline grab by Mike Webb at the 13. But on third and five from the eight, the Blues attempted a field goal but a botched snap gave the Facey the ball at its 20 and on the next play Hubbard dashed 90 yards to pay dirt.
Hubbard’s third TD, a 10-yard effort, capped off an 85-yard drive with the world-class sprinter racking up the first downs while surpassing 200 yards in the half as Facey pulled ahead 21-6.
“He is a special, special football player. He just needs a tiny bit of daylight and you can see the acceleration. As soon as he sees a hole and he hits that hole he’s gone. Our team is loaded with athletes but when you’ve got a guy that is that much quicker you stand no chance,” Strecker said of Hubbard, a world-class sprinter who ripped it up in league play for 27 TDs and 2,243 yards on 112 carries, plus another five TDs in the 60-6 semifinal rout of the Bellerose Bulldogs (5-4). He also pulled off the pick-six in the first game against the Blues with Paul Kane marching down field down by three points.
The Blues emptied the bench after Facey recovered its short kick-off to start the second half and Hubbard’s 57-yard TD was converted to make it 28-8.
Facey also tacked up a safety after sacking backup quarterback Connor Guy in the endzone in the third quarter. It was 30-6 to start the last quarter.
“We did pull back a bit in the second half because we wanted to mitigate any injuries. We were focusing on Saturday too because we have another title to fight for,” Pawlychka said.
The loss to Facey marked the third metro Edmonton final in a row for the Blues, winners of back-to-back undefeated Miles division two championships the last two years.
“It's pretty exciting considering that we were coming in as underdogs. Many teams and many spectators expected a 2-6 season for us and we really flipped the odds,” said Pawlychka, 17. “With all the preparation we put towards this and the coaching staff’s ability to train our athletes and the dedication we have we were able to pull together a great team.”
THIRD DOWN: Callioux's 36-yard punt return to the Paul Kane 37 was one of the few highlights for the Blues in the second half. The Grade 10 junior also saw action in the 38-22 semifinal win over the Harry Ainlay Titans (5-4).
The newcomer to St. Albert from Cold Lake is the Grant Yuzyk Trophy recipient as the pool B MVP in the metro junior league. He is the eighth St. Albert player and third from the Blues to receive the MVP trophy since the inception of the Paul Kane football program in 2011.
Callioux surpassed 600 passing yards and scored seven TDs in league play, as well as averaging more than 100 rushing yards per game. Callioux also played safety and recorded the second-highest number of tackles on the team and two of his three interceptions were pick-sixes.
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the trophy presentation picture.
