Rivalry game
A preview of the division two Miles conference final in metro Edmonton football will be showcased this Friday in the Battle of St. Albert.The Paul Kane Blues and St. Albert High Skyhawks will go eyeball to eyeball at 5 p.m. at Larry Olexiuk Field.
The stands will be packed to witness one of the most intense high school rivalries in St. Albert.
The Skyhawks versus Paul Kane in division one 4A women’s basketball and the Bellerose Bulldogs versus Paul Kane in division two men’s basketball also rank high as must-see games in St. Albert.
Since the formation of the Paul Kane program after serving as a feeder school for the St. Albert Catholic High School football team, the Blues hold the upper hand with victories of 78-14 in 2013, 56-0 in 2014, and last year the results were 43-30 in league play and 16-3 in the semifinals.
Both teams are 2-0 and in Week 3 of the Football Alberta rankings Paul Kane is seventh in Tier II (750 to 1,249 students) and the Skyhawks are fifth in Tier III (450 to 749 students).
The Miles conference final is Nov. 2 at Commonwealth Stadium.
Last week in St. Albert, the Skyhawks stomped the Archbishop Jordan Scots 44-0 and Paul Kane hung on to defeat the O’Leary Spartans 14-12.
The Skyhawks, last year’s Tier III provincial north finalists, picked off four passes as Kyle Torok-Both, Hunter Hoffman, Jackson Ganton and Justin Stoneham recorded interceptions against the Scots (1-1).
The Skyhawks' dominating defence was led by the linebacking core of Evan Selzler, Matt Swecera and Nick Romaniuk, a trio of Grade 11s, and Jared Granoski, a Grade 10 player.
Gabriel Forbes, a defensive tackle and offensive lineman, was also strong in the trenches.
Quarterback Ewan Vanderheide completed seven of 13 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns, and the Grade 11 Skyhawk also ran for a major.
Ganton, Torok-Both and Mason Mildenberger were on the receiving end of Vanderheide’s TD passes.
Logan Lysohirka rushed for 146 yards on eight carries, highlighted by a 60-yard TD dash.
The flu didn’t stop Swecera from gaining 36 yards on six carries while scoring one TD.
Addison Ross was also six-for-six kicking extra points.
A parade of Paul Kane penalties almost derailed a 14-3 halftime lead against O’Leary (0-2).
Nine of the 17 infractions were of the offside and illegal procedure variety of drive killers and drive extenders as the mental mistakes almost proved costly for last year’s Miles conference finalists and Tier II provincial north semifinalists.
Late in the game and the score 14-6, Paul Kane punted from its end zone and it was blocked for a major. A couple of huge goal-line plays prevented O’Leary from pulling even on the two-point play.
Paul Kane recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.
O’Leary, a big, strong and very good tackling team, gave Paul Kane all it could handle as the Blues settled for the proverbial ugly win.
Jacob King, a Grade 10 quarterback, busted loose for a 28-yard TD and Ethan Wedman produced a six-yard major set up by a spectacular missed field-goal return of 88 yards by the Grade 12 player.
Bellerose football
The Bellerose Bulldogs kick off the metro Edmonton junior football schedule today against the Harry Ainlay Titans.Start time is 5 p.m. at Clarke Stadium.
The Bulldogs are the only high school junior football team in St. Albert after the Paul Kane Blues ceased operations of their junior team last year, and the St. Albert High Skyhawks pulled the plug on their junior team in 2014 due to a lack of players for both programs to field junior and senior teams.
The senior Bulldogs huddle up Friday against the No. 1 provincially-ranked Harry Ainlay Titans, last year’s division one Carr conference and Alberta Bowl Tier I champions. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Larry Olexiuk Field.
The Bulldogs lost the Sept. 7 season-opener 31-9 to the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds in St. Albert.
Super Saturday
The Super Saturday salute to football celebrations for the St. Albert Minor Football Association starts with the opening ceremonies at 9:50 a.m. at Larry Olexiuk Field.Four games are also on tap featuring the following SAMFA peewee and bantam teams in the Capital District Minor Football Association:
10 a.m., peewee junior varsity Colts versus Beaumont;
12:30 p.m., bantam junior varsity Fury versus Fort Saskatchewan Sting;
3 p.m., peewee senior varsity Riders versus Sherwood Park Wolverines;
and 5:30 p.m., bantam senior varsity Palmer 49ers versus Wolverines.
Punter and Nanook, mascots for the Edmonton Eskimos, will also be in attendance.
Fans are encouraged to bring donations of gently used clothing and household linens to the Super Saturday event, and SAMFA will deliver the items to the local Value Village store for payment by the pound and monies raised will be turned over to KidSport. Cash donations will also be accepted.
