The Bellerose Dawgs chewed up the O’Leary Spartans for eight touchdowns in Tuesday’s 57-0 rout in high school junior football at Clarke Park.
The Dawgs scored three converted touchdowns in the first quarter and led by 30 at halftime.
In the second half the coaches emptied the bench so all 46 players dressed could contribute to the win.
Game star Nick Svenson rushed for two majors and caught a TD pass from Tyler Moroz. The punishing runner and blocker had close to 100 yards on the ground. The multi-purpose threat also busted loose for several big gains on punt returns.
On defence, Svenson made several hard hits at outside linebacker and picked off a pass before the first half ended.
The top rusher was Tyler Thorsley with 150 yards and two TDs. Taylor Brown and Tim Burgher also put up big numbers carrying the ball. Burgher, Moroz and fullback Andre Sarafinchan also ran for TDs. Moroz was making his first start at quarterback in place of the injured Shannon Stuht.
Brad Delmas converted seven TDs.
On defence, rush end Dean Ciampanelli and tackle Jacob Neuls combined for numerous tackles in the backfield. Neuls sacked the quarterback once and Ciampanelli accounted for a safety.
The Spartans managed only one first down in the first half off a fake punt.
“We definitely played a more crisp game this week, compared to last Tuesday. There were a lot less mental errors,” head coach Chad Hill said of the 44-0 rout of the St. Francis Xavier Rams. “Much of the improvement can be attributed to experience. The Whitecourt Jamboree really helped with getting our confidence levels up for this game. We played against some very good teams with many Grade 11s and 12s and we were humbled a bit on the weekend. However, we learned from that experience and we came away from there a better team and that showed against the Spartans.”
The next game for the Dawgs should be a dandy. They line up Tuesday against the undefeated Paul Kane Blues at 5 p.m. at the Riel Park turf field.
“It should be very competitive and a lot of fun. They have some excellent athletes and some tough football players,” Hill said.
Meanwhile, the Dawgs had their season-opening win against the Rams taken away from them by the metro Edmonton league after the Rams dropped out. The Dawgs are 1-0 in pool B and 3-0 overall.
The Paul Kane Blues lit up the St. Albert Hawks by 56 points in Tuesday’s shutout victory.
The Blues hammered the Hawks for seven touchdowns and Isaac King kicked field goals from 32 and 27 yards in the metro Edmonton high school junior blowout at the Riel Park turf field.
In the first half the Blues opened the scoring with TD dashes of 55 and 40 yards by quarterback Cory Knott. Jake Lee also scored twice on runs of seven and 33 yards. Patrick Turnbull also added a 52-yard TD on the ground.
In the second half Knott connected with Eric Chaboyer with a 15-yard TD strike. Backup quarterback Andrew Hoffman also hooked up with Frankie White for a 45-yard TD reception.
The punter and long snapper for the Hawks were injured prior to the game so they went for it on every third down, which gave the Blues a short field most of the game.
The Hawks are 0-3 overall. Their previous losses were 48-0 against the Bev Facey Falcons and 64-0 against the Salisbury Sabres in exhibition action.
The Blues are now 2-0 in pool B action and 3-0 overall in the first year of football at Paul Kane. They have racked up 156 points in three shutouts.
The next game is Tuesday against the Bellerose Dawgs at 5 p.m. in St. Albert.
The St. Albert Fury remains undefeated in bantam football after Sunday’s first-place tilt against the Edmonton Blue Seahawks.
Dylan Shorten caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Shaydon Phillip and Seth Waselenchuk ran for TDs of 50 and 51 yards in the 40-19 victory in St. Albert.
The Fury led 7-0 after the first quarter, 19-7 at halftime and 26-13 after three quarters.
Six minutes into the second half, Nick Cowen returned an interception 21 yards into the endzone. Cowen also converted his own TD.
The Fury improved to 4-0 in the Johnny Bright division. The Seahawks are 3-1.
The Fury huddles up next Saturday against the Edmonton Chargers (3-0). Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. at the Riel Park turf field.
