The metro Edmonton high school football playoffs have been finalized in the Carr and Miles conferences. Tuesday in the Carr the Bellerose Bulldogs (3-4) and the Jasper Place Rebels (4-3) huddle up at 7:30 p.m. at Clarke Park.
The metro Edmonton high school football playoffs have been finalized in the Carr and Miles conferences.
Tuesday in the Carr the Bellerose Bulldogs (3-4) and the Jasper Place Rebels (4-3) huddle up at 7:30 p.m. at Clarke Park.
The winner tackles the first-place Salisbury Sabres (6-1) in Friday's semifinal at 5 p.m. at Clarke.
The Bulldogs closed out league play in Thursday's 30-7 loss to the Rebels at Riel Recreation Park.
The result left the Bulldogs, Bev Facey Falcons and Austin O'Brien Crusaders tied for fifth place and on the tiebreaker Bellerose and Facey made the six-team playoff cut.
Missed assignments on both sides of the ball against the Rebels proved costly as the Bulldogs trailed 6-0 after the first quarter, 13-0 at halftime and 20-7 after three quarters.
The Bulldogs, ranked seventh provincially in Tier I, struggled defensively against the Rebels' power run and let a few plays go deep through the air.
Running back Jackson Ryan scored the Bulldogs' touchdown by hurdling an outside linebacker before running over the defenders in the secondary for the 15-yard score.
In the Miles playoffs, the powerhouse Paul Kane Blues (7-0, 420 PF/78 PA) will play the winner of Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. tilt at Johnny Bright Park between St. Albert High Skyhawks (4-3) and W.P. Wagner Warriors (3-4).
Friday's semifinal kicks off at 5 p.m. at Johnny Bright or Foote Field.
The Blues, ranked second in Tier II, are coming off a 68-7 thrashing of the winless Leduc Tigers.
The Skyhawks are winless in two games after falling 28-10 to the McNally Tigers (4-3).
The Skyhawks, ranked 10th in Tier III, finished tied for second with the Ardrossan Bisons and McNally but are seeded fourth in the playoff bracket after losses against both teams. They also lost 78-14 to the Blues.
Grade 11 quarterback Trace Stuht fired two touchdown passes and ran twice for scores as the Bellerose Bulldogs humbled the Memorial Marauders 63-12 Tuesday in the metro Edmonton high school junior football.
The pool B victory in Spruce Grove clinched a first-round bye in the premier conference playoffs for the defending champions and a berth in the Oct. 31 semifinal at 7:30 p.m. at Clarke Park.
The Bulldogs (4-0) scored on the game's opening drive, a four-play 65-yard series that started with a long Kit Liske run, followed by a pass to Corbin Stewart and a Mitch Kruk run to the one before Stuht's plunge into the endzone.
Kruk finished the game with two rushing majors. Liske scored once on the ground and returned a kick to pay dirt. Eric Calkins and Jayden Carroll also caught TD passes.
Stuht's second TD was a 48-yard gallop.
It was 28-0 in the second quarter when Memorial (3-1) scored the first TD of the season against the Bulldogs off a quarterback scramble through several missed tackles.
At halftime it was 35-7.
Several linemen were forced to play ironman football due to injuries, including workhorses Brandon Treloar, Ben Chretien and Mike Clapp.
The Bulldogs will sit out several players with injuries in the last game before the playoffs Monday against the winless St. Albert Hawks. Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Riel Recreation Park.
Defence was the name of the game for the Paul Kane Blues in metro Edmonton high school junior football Tuesday.
The Blues (3-1) limited the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds (1-3) to only three first downs and one point despite three glaring special team turnovers deep in their own zone in the 35-1 win at Johnny Bright Park.
The Blues opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on a 37-yard pass from Jamison Enger to Callum McEwen.
On their next series a bad snap on a third-down punt was gobbled up by the T-Birds at the Paul Kane 15. However, the T-Birds settled for a single point off a missed field goal when their offence failed to move the ball.
Darryl Broderick's four-yard TD run late in the second quarter made it 12-1.
In the second half the Blues fumbled the opening kickoff and the T-Birds recovered it at the Paul Kane nine, but once again the defence stood tall and the ball was turned over on downs.
The Blues then marched 107 yards on eight plays, culminating with Brandon Smith's one-yard TD run.
On the next drive Broderick capped it off with an 11-yard TD run.
After the Blues forced the T-Birds to give up a safety, Paul Kane closed out the third quarter with Enger's one-yard quarterback sneak.
The Blues fittingly ended the game with a defensive stuff on third down after a fumbled punt gave the T-Birds the ball inside the Paul Kane 10.
Linebacker Dalton Kowalchuk led the defensive charge with seven tackles and one sack. Defensive backs Tanner Buchanan and Martin Kolacz both had interceptions and Liam Blair was a rock at left defensive end.
A dominating ground game featured 121 yards on 11 carries by Smith. Broderick added 102 yards on 10 handoffs.
Enger finished five-for-eight passing for 109 yards.
The last game before the playoffs is Monday versus the Memorial Marauders (3-1) for second place in pool B. Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Riel Recreation Park.
Win or lose, the Blues will huddle up in the premier conference playoffs and their first game in the crossover bracket is Oct. 28 at 5 or 7:30 p.m. at Clarke Park.
