The St. Albert High Skyhawks host the St. Francis Xavier Rams on Thursday in metro Edmonton high school football.
Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Riel Recreation Park and admission is $5.
Last week, both teams lost their Miles division two openers. The Rams suffered a 34-20 setback to the McNally Tigers, last year’s division finalists, and the Skyhawks dropped a 14-11 decision to the Strathcona Lords, a 0-6 team in 2014.
The Skyhawks were in position to score the game-winning points on third and six at the 11 with 30 seconds remaining, but quarterback Sam Cuciz was unable to connect with Anthony Borelli in the endzone.
The Lords opened the scoring on the third play from scrimmage with a catch and run of 65 yards and the convert was good.
The Skyhawks answered with a short TD pass from Cuciz to Tyler Laboucane and Marco Cupelli kicked the convert. The drive featured two completions to Bryan Breda and his second reception put the Skyhawks at the three and two plays later Laboucane scored.
In the next series for the Lords, Breda picked off a pass on a great athletic play and returned it 15 yards. The Skyhawks were forced to try a 35-yard field goal and Cupelli’s kick was wide off the posts for a single.
Back on offence, the Lords were unable to move the ball. On third down Brady Gonek broke through the line and blocked a punt and the Skyhawks took over possession at the Strathcona 20. Brendan Gervais ran the ball three straight times to put the Skyhawks at the five. They would settle for a nine-yard Cupelli field goal to make it 11-7.
Early in the second quarter the Lords regained the lead with a catch and run from their 25 and the convert was good.
Late in the third quarter, the Lords fumbled a punt return and Laboucane recovered it at the Strathcona 40 but the Skyhawks were unable to move the ball and turned it over on downs.
On the next play, Breda pulled off his second pick of the night to give the Skyhawks the ball at their 30. Strong runs by Dan Johnson and Laboucane were followed by a series of penalties that left the Skyhawks looking at second and 35, but Cuciz hooked up with Borelli for a 50-yard gain with time ticking down. The Skyhawks’ ground game pushed the ball to the 11 to set up what was the team’s last play of the game.
In the Football Alberta rankings, the Skyhawks are listed seventh in Tier III (449 or fewer students).
The Paul Kane Blues will see how good they really are Friday, when the Carr division one team butts heads with the Bev Facey Falcons in the metro Edmonton league.
Game time is 5 p.m. at Johnny Bright Park and admission is $5.
The Football Alberta rankings list Facey at No. 2 in Tier I (1,250-plus students) and the Blues are No. 3 in Tier II (750 to 1,249 students).
Facey, last year’s Carr champions as winners of six of the last eight finals, is 2-0 (100 PF/21 PA) and the Blues won their season opener 34-13 over the Spruce Grove Panthers (1-1).
Keaton Zaychkowsky racked up four touchdowns on runs of 53 and 15 yards and receptions of nine and 18 yards. The Grade 11 standout finished with 91 yards on six catches and 84 yards on five carries.
Quarterback Brendan Guy completed 12 of 27 passes for 236 yards and two TDs and led the Blues in rushing with 136 yards on 12 carries.
Slotback Tanner Buchanan reeled in three passes for 96 yards and Ty Beck gained 63 yards on eight handoffs.
Total offence was 519 yards (236 passing and 283 rushing) for the undefeated Miles division two champions the last two years.
Week two in the Capital District Minor Football Association kicks off Sunday for St. Albert’s peewee and bantam teams.
At Strathcona Athletic Park, the Tier 1/2 peewee Colts tackle the Sherwood Park Bulldogs (0-1) at 10 a.m. and the Tier 1/2 bantam 49ers line up against the Sherwood Park Rams (0-1) at 12:30 p.m.
The Tier 1/2 peewee Riders are in Stony Plain to play the Edmonton Black Raiders (1-0) at 10 a.m. and the Tier 3/4 bantam Fury travel to Camrose to face the Buffaloes (1-0) at 12:30 p.m.
Last weekend, the Fury tamed the Spruce Grove Cougars 56-14 at Fuhr Sports Park as Ewan Vanderheide ran wild for 236 yards on 19 carries for two touchdowns and Jared Koziol rushed for 176 yards and three TDs on 21 handoffs for last year’s undefeated CDMFA Tier 3 champions.
At Riel Recreation Park, the 49ers fell 26-16 to the Edmonton Northstars and the Riders defeated the Colts 14-12.
The 49ers were outscored 13-0 in the second quarter and trailed 13-8 after three quarters.
The peewee tilt was a seesaw affair. Riders quarterback Jacob King opened and closed the scoring with rushing TDs. Both scores were converted.
The Colts trailed 7-6 at halftime but jumped ahead 12-7 in the third quarter.
The Riders, last year’s Tier 2 league champions and provincial finalists, regained the lead with about eight minutes to play. The game ended with the Colts driving the field but ran out of time.
Matt Kociuba was solid on both sides of the ball as the Riders’ player of the game.
