Johnny Bright Park – The road to glory runs through the Salisbury Sabres for the Bellerose Bulldogs in Thursday's high school football showdown.
Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Riel Recreation Park between Salisbury (1-0) – the defending Carr division one champions in the metro Edmonton league are listed fourth in the Football Alberta Tier I (1,250-plus students) rankings – and the Bulldogs, slotted ninth in Tier I as the fourth Carr team in the rankings. Admission is $5.
"They spanked us last year and we're hoping to get some revenge," said Grade 12 tailback Tyler Feltis after racking up 181 yards on 20 carries while scoring two touchdowns in Friday's 30-28 decision against the Jasper Place Rebels in the season opener.
Last year the only St. Albert team in division one after the merger of the Edmonton metro and public leagues lost twice to Salisbury, the Tier I north finalists from the football hotbed of Sherwood Park, by margins of 21-0 in the first league game and 14-0 in the Carr semifinal.
"I know all of us from last year want to get sweet revenge," said Nick Cowan, a standout six-foot-five Grade 12 linebacker and kicker.
The Bulldogs are already better than last year after finding the will to win when the game was too close to call. They crawled back from a 7-3 first-quarter deficit to lead 20-7 at halftime but with 7:12 to play trailed 28-27. However, Cowan's third field goal of the game, a 23-yard effort with 3:23 left on the clock, lifted the Bulldogs on top to stay and a jacked-up defence stopped the desperate Rebels in their tracks in front of a vast Jasper Place crowd.
"I'm proud of you guys. Last year the first two weeks of the season we lost these close games (by 21 points to Salisbury and 22-12 to Harry Ainlay Titans). Today we found the resolve and the determination to win a close game and in division one football boys we can expect a lot of close ones and a lot of battles right from the start to the end," head coach Chad Hill told his troops in the post-game huddle. "It's also their homecoming game and we come away with a win so well done, boys."
The pressure is mounting on the Bulldogs to surpass last year's 4-5 record with a roster bulging with players from the undefeated 2012 and 2013 junior division one championship teams.
"We fell short multiple times last year with other teams and this year we're hoping to be even a better team than last year. I want to see us go to the top," said Cowan, the outstanding defensive player award winner on the 2012 juniors and last year's senior Dawgs. "This team has the most talent I've ever seen on a team here."
The Rebels were anxious to line up against the Bulldogs. Last year they suffered losses of 23-21 in the opening playoff round after beating Bellerose 30-7 in the previous game and 21-17 in the junior final.
"To start the season with a win against them when they asked for us is pretty good," said Feltis, last year's recipient of the team's most improved player award. "It was a hard fought win so it feels pretty good. They had a big crowd and as we started marching on them we showed them we're not the same team as last year and they started dwindling. Our crowd here today was big too. All in all it was a big win."
Parade of points
The Bulldogs drove the opening kick off from their 48 and settled for a 19-yard Cowan field goal.
On the second possession speedster Seth Waselenchuk lost a contact lens while tackled out of bounds and spent the rest of the game with only one good eye while leading the team in receiving yards with 84 on six catches and gained another 58 on the ground on three carries. The Grade 12 slotback also returned a fumble from around the midfield strip into the endzone that would have made it 33-14 in the third quarter but an offside flag nullified the TD.
The second time the Rebels had the ball they broke loose for a 55-yard TD run in the last minute of the first quarter.
On the ensuing kick off dazzling runs by Feltis and pass completions by quarterback Morgan Sherban to Corbin Stewart and Waselenchuk set up Feltis' TD on his third carry of the drive, a 28-yard romp early in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs padded their lead on Cowan's 18-yard field goal to go up 13-7. Determined runs by Feltis and the ball savvy of Sherban, a highly-touted transfer from the Fort Saskatchewan Sting, propelled the Bulldogs into the red zone.
The first half ended with the Rebels stopping Waselenchuk short of the goal line on a spirited end around from the Bellerose 45.
The first time on offence in the second half the Bulldogs marched the ball 57 yards, highlighted by receptions of nine yards by Eric Calkins to the 39 and 27 yards to Waselenchuk, who was pushed out of bounds at the two, before Feltis finished the drive off with a two-yard sprint off a direct snap.
The teams would go on to trade TDs at a rapid rate. The first play from scrimmage by the Rebels after Feltis' second major was a prolific 80-yard dash down the sideline by Carlos Tekum. The Bulldogs replied with an impressive 70-yard drive, capped off by a Sherban's 22-yard TD scramble. Cowan's convert made it 27-14.
Sherban, last year's division three MVP with the Gilfillan champions, finished the win with 60 yards on 13 carries and was 15-for-19 passing for 183 yards.
Back on offence, after the Rebels dodged a bullet on Waselenchuk's fumble return for a TD that was called back, Tekum rumbled 50 yards to pay dirt.
Down to the wire
In the fourth quarter, and the Rebels starring at second down and 16 at their one, the quarterback completed a pass to the 34 of Bellerose before he was rocked by the Bulldogs in the endzone. After an offside penalty against the Bulldogs the Rebels strung together some long runs, including gains by Tekum of 18 and 19 yards. Tekum's last run was his third TD and the convert gave the Rebels their second lead of the match.
The Bulldogs struggled trying to contain Tekum, a powerful Grade 12 runner, as the Rebels' ground game gained traction in the second half
"It was mainly blown assignments. We scouted their double wing and they came out with something similar but it looked more like a spread offence and we got caught shifting between the two and they torched us for it," said Cowan, the team leader in tackles with 11.
After the Rebels dropped a sure pick in front of their goal line Cowan split the uprights from the 23. A leaping sideline catch by Calkins for 18 yards and Waselenchuk's 31-yard catch and run pushed the Bulldogs deep into scoring range. Calkins reeled in five balls overall for 48 yards.
The Bulldogs didn't take a step backwards offensively with a new O-line after last year's starting front five graduated. The six-man rotation of right-guard Anthony Ryce and left-tackle Spencer Unrau, backups last year, plus newcomers from the junior team in right-tackle Mike Woywitka, centre Ethan Findlay, left-guard Brandon Treloar and Matt Flata, who saw action at both tackle spots, dominated the trenches.
"With our whole O-line gone from last year they came up big when we needed them to and the offence drove the field," Cowan said.
With time slipping away on the Rebels down by two they turned the ball over on downs on clutch defence against the pass by Woywitka, a two-way pit bull, and Mitch Kruk.
After the first turnover on downs, Feltis banged off two key first downs on superb runs of 20 and 22 yards to pretty much seal the deal.
"This game was the first time I got to let loose. I don't get to let loose in practice too much but today I wanted to perform the best I could and have a good game," said Feltis, 17, the fourth leader rusher in the Carr last year, 656 yards on 91 carries.
The Bulldogs would eventually try a 16-yard field goal but Cowan rattled the post with 73 seconds remaining.
"It was a good kick but it was just a little to the right," said Cowan, 17.
On the Rebels' last possession, Trace Stuht sacked the quarterback on a rollout at the 15 with 45.7 seconds to go to force a third and 15 situation.
Darryl Broderick, Jackson Tulloch and James Lis were also credited with sacks. Woywitka had six tackles and Josh Coogan added five for Bellerose.
