Cory Knott was double trouble on the gridiron this year as the Miles conference most valuable player.
The dazzling Grade 12 quarterback was unstoppable with his legs and arm for the 9-0 Miles champions in the metro Edmonton league.
“It’s awesome to receive this award but it would mean nothing without the guys behind me though. They’ve been great and I owe it all to them,” said Knott, who ran for three touchdowns in the second quarter and completed three TD passes in the second half in Saturday’s 44-14 rout of the Ardrossan Bisons in the Miles final.
Knott, 17, is the first St. Albert player to be honoured as the MVP in the Miles and one of the very few to be recognized for their outstanding performances in the metro league’s senior ranks.
The Carr conference MVP winners from St. Albert include Danny Prockiw of the Storm in 1992, Cory Jones of the Skyhawks in 1999 and 2000, Ben Graunke of the Bellerose Bulldogs last year and pool B recipients Kyle Connolly of the Bulldogs in 2005 and Chris Dobko of the Skyhawks in 2007.
Metro teams nominate their MVP candidate and from those players the coaches submitted votes for the Haliburton Trophy recipient.
Brandon Thiessen of the Leduc Tigers, Conner Mickel of the McNally Tigers, Tamba Morris of the O’Leary Spartans, Sheldon Shaw of the W.P. Wagner Warriors, Florian Shellenberg of the Strathcona Lords, Cole Christianson of Ardrossan and St. Albert High Skyhawks’ quarterback Keith Zyla were this year’s Miles nominees.
Knott and Zyla were their respective team’s nominees last year when the Blues and Skyhawks played in the Carr.
Head coach Rob Strecker declared “it would be a travesty” if Knott wasn’t the MVP winner.
Knott ranks alongside Trevor Lovig of the Storm, Matt Connell of the Skyhawks and Zyla as among the greatest St. Albert quarterbacks in the metro Edmonton area after one of the most impressive seasons by a St. Albert player at the senior level.
In the regular season Knott was the Miles rushing leader with 883 yards on 61 carries for a conference-high 16 TDs in only seven league games.
He was also the second-ranked quarterback in Miles with 1,326 yards, while throwing 82 completions out of 140 attempts for 14 TDs and three interceptions.
The team’s kicker was sixth in the conference in punting on 13 boots and was 1-for-2 on field goals.
In the Miles semifinal against the W.P. Wagner Warriors, Knott recorded 133 yards on 15 carries for two TDs and was 18-for-29 passing for 188 yards and one TD in the 35-18 victory.
Statistical information from the Miles final was unavailable at press time.
Last year in the Carr, Knott threw a conference-high 1,472 yards and shared the TD lead with 15, while going 74-for-144 passing. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 539 yards on 47 carries.
Two years ago Knott was the Grant Yuzyk Trophy winner as the junior MVP in metro with the premier conference champion Blues in Paul Kane’s first season of football. He was the fifth St. Albert junior and the first since 2008 to earn MVP accolades.
“It’s nicer to win the (MVP) award at the senior level,” Knott said. “It just feels like a really good accomplishment.”
