The Bellerose Bulldogs exorcised another demon in high school rugby with a rare win against the Sturgeon Spirits.
"It's huge for us because we haven't beat them in like seven years," Grade 11 standoff Jake Mentz said after Wednesday's 36-19 triumph at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. "It's a big milestone because it shows how far we've come. Last year we were the city champions. This year we're hoping to make a big step up and that was the first step on the way to being premier champions."
Last year the Bulldogs knocked off the Paul Kane Blues 25-0 in league play and 46-14 in the city conference final.
"Beating PK felt great because they're our cross-town rivals but this win is pretty good too," said Grade 12 flanker Kieran Fraser.
The Bulldogs finished 3-0 in the condensed fixtures for a spot in the premier conference quarter-finals.
"Last year we knew we could do better than city. We wanted to be in premier. We felt we could do well in it, but it just didn't happen. We had a lot of screw-ups in a couple of games that we needed to get in there but this season is a different story. We're playing better together as a team," Fraser said.
The Bulldogs are seeded first in the north as the top team in pool C. Sturgeon is 2-1 in pool D.
In total, four pools of three teams each were divided into a north and south division. After the crossover pool games within the divisions, the two highest teams in each pool compete for premier honours. The four bottom teams are in the city playoff bracket.
Next Wednesday the Bulldogs tackle the Fort Saskatchewan Sting, 0-3 as the second-place squad in pool A. Kickoff is 4:45 p.m. in St. Albert.
The winner will line up against the defending premier champion St. Francis Xavier Rams (2-1 in pool C) or the Leduc Tigers (0-0-1 in pool A) in the May 30 semifinals. The final is June 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
"We're pumped going into the playoffs. We have a lot of high energy," Fraser said.
"We're all pretty happy right now. Everyone is excited. It's a good feeling," added Mentz. "We're going to try and carry that into our next practices and elevate our intensity and hard work because now we see what we can do and we want to go all the way."
Most of the Bulldogs like Mentz are back from last year's 4-3 team in metro.
"We have the same core of guys that have been strong three years in a row now, plus a couple of Grade 11s. We've brought in some good Grade 10s and we've had a lot of help from them," he said. "It's really all about teamwork for us. Everybody is committed."
Scorefest
The Bulldogs pulled together to post leads of 7-5 after the first quarter, 19-5 at halftime and 24-12 after three quarters against Sturgeon, the seventh-place team at last year's tier I (4A schools) provincials.
"The first quarter was great. They got that try [in the 15th minute] but after that the rest of the half was ours," Fraser said. "In the third quarter we came out on fire."
Mentz, 17, scored the first and last tries with some shifty running.
"On the first one [in the 10th minute] they fumbled the kick and I just picked it up and ran right through the goal posts. They missed a couple of tackles. It was a good way to start to get the first points," said the Team Alberta player the last three years. "The second one [with three minutes remaining] was off a good play by Lewis Biamonte and Robert Blunden. It was a good feeling to score in the last part of the game like that."
The man of the match was Blunden, the 2010 recipient of the Gareth Jones Shield as the U16 player of the year. Late in the third quarter, and the Bulldogs in front by seven points, he shrugged off a tackle outside the 22-metre line and bolted towards the try line but was hauled down from behind only inches away from a score. Galen Pon followed up in support, scooped up the ball and dived in for the try.
"He dominated the game out there. He got us some big yards," said Mentz, who fed the try-hungry Blunden a juicy ball for a score late in the first half.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs busted loose on a quick lineout outside the 22 as Pon flipped the ball to Fraser, who made a beeline into the try area.
"They didn't look like they were paying attention and I kind of gave Galen a little heads-up. He handed it to me and I just run up the sideline. It felt good that it worked out," Fraser said.
After the try Blunden aced the long, difficult conversion from a nasty angle near the touchline. It was his second conversion of the game. He also nailed the crossbar after Pon's score.
Another big play was Craig Kunz racing down the touchline to finish off an aggressive Bulldogs' attack to make it 12-5. A few minutes earlier the Bulldogs came up short at the try line off a five-metre scrum after another intense, lightning quick drive.
"We beat them today on skill," Mentz said. "We spun it wide. They were too slow. They have big strong forwards."
The rough and tumble, fast-paced affair also served as a reunion for the Sturgeon and Bellerose football players that huddled together for the Bulldogs last year in the Carr conference.
"We came out hitting for sure," said Fraser, the Bulldogs' unsung hero award winner in 2010 in football.
Last month at the annual Sherwood Park pre-season tournament both teams made it to the final, with Surgeon coming out on top.
"We thought we could do a lot better than we did against Sturgeon there. For half of our team that was there it was their first rugby experience ever. They're picking it up now and it showed on the field today. We shared the ball a lot and we took it into contact well," said Fraser, 18.
