Keaton Zaychkowsky of the Paul Kane Blues was honoured for a season of excellence as the Grant Yuzyk Trophy recipient as the most valuable player in pool B in metro Edmonton high school junior football.
Zaychkowsky is the seventh St. Albert player to receive the junior MVP award since its inception in 1988. Past winners include Cory Knott (2011) of the Blues, Mitch Millett (2005) and Trace Stuht (2013) of the Bellerose Bulldogs and Colin Cardinal (2004), Brett Fabian (2006) and Mike Spagnola (2008) of the St. Albert Hawks.
Zaychkowsky, 15, rushed for 873 yards on 49 carries for nine touchdowns.
The Grade 10 offensive weapon caught five passes for 42 yards, tossed a 30-yard TD strike, kicked a field goal and converted 22 TDs.
The bantam graduate of the St. Albert Fury also recorded nine tackles, two assists, one sack and a pick-six.
“Keaton really set the tone for us this year. A great player, a great leader and a great kid. Lots of times talented kids can let it go to their head that they’re all that and a bag of chips but Keaton just plugged in and worked hard setting a great example for the rest of the team. The senior team is getting a real gem in him,” said Tim Enger, head coach of the 3-3 junior Blues.
The Tier 2 peewee (11-12) provincial final between the St. Albert Riders and Okotoks Eagles kicks off today at 1:30 p.m. at Johnny Bright Park.
The Riders are 6-3 after beating the Sherwood Park Raiders 26-6 in the Capital District Minor Football Association Tier 2 final last weekend. It was 6-6 at halftime.
Quarterback Jacob King teamed up with Jordan Howe for two touchdowns, a 25-yard catch and run in the first half and a slant to the sideline in the endzone from the 10 in the second half. One of the TDs was converted with a two-point kick.
Ewan Vanderheide also ran for TDs of eight yards up the gut and a 45-yard sweep down the sideline.
The Riders also recovered one fumble and Howe almost picked off a pass.
In league play the Riders defeated the Raiders (3-6) 13-8.
The Riders’ roster is made up of eight veterans in their last year of peewee and 17 first-year peewees, including six newcomers to the sport. Twelve of the 25 players will move up to bantam next year.
Ryan Cassidy’s 13-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter against the undefeated Sherwood Park Broncos powered the St. Albert Buccaneers to victory in the atom Tier 3 championship in the Capital District Minor Football Association.
A great block by William Mah sprung Cassidy to the outside where he outran three Broncos untouched into the endzone for the only score in the 6-0 victory last weekend.
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the team picture.
Both teams finished the season at 8-1.
In league play the Bucs lost 6-0 to the Broncos.
The 24-man roster includes nine Bucs who will play peewee next year and out of the 15 returning players seven are eligible to play two more years of atom. There were seven eight-year-olds on the team and two of them played key positions on offence and defence.
