Two losses are two too many for the Paul Kane Blues.
The winless start is cause for concern for last year’s Carr conference division one finalists and Tier II provincial north semifinalists who finished 8-3 overall.
“We have no one to blame but ourselves. I always talk about the little things and right now it’s the little things that are causing us problems and if we don’t correct those little things we’re not going to win any football games,” a solemn Rob Strecker told the players after Thursday’s 24-14 defeat at the hands of the Spruce Grove Panthers at Riel Recreation Park.
The week before, the Blues literally dropped the ball in the 24-6 loss to the Jasper Place Rebels in St. Albert.
The last time the Blues lost at home was 2012 during a 3-5 Carr campaign before the merger of the Edmonton metro and public leagues.
Last year’s Blues suffered only one setback in the regular season after going undefeated as back-to-back Miles Conference division two champions before bowing out in the 2013 Tier II north final for a 10-1 record and 2014 north semifinal for an 8-1 mark.
“If you were going to tell me we were going to be 0-2, I would say ‘no way’ so I’m frustrated in that way because I know we have a better football team than we’ve shown and for whatever reason we’re not getting it done and that falls on us as coaches. We need to get these guys ready,” Strecker said while walking toward the team bus. “We’re going to battle back, absolutely. We’re going to figure out what’s wrong and we’re gong to make the corrections and we’re going to come out even better next week. That’s our goal.”
A revamped lineup consisting of 10 returnees from the most talented St. Albert high school football team since the 2012 Skyhawks reached the Carr final and Tier III Alberta Bowl has struggled to find ways to win.
“Our defence has played two fantastic games and our special teams played a little bit better this week but our offence is just missing something right now,” Strecker said. “Like I told the boys, we’re messing up on the little things, just little assignments here and there with our blocking and running the wrong routes and throwing into coverage.
“It’s frustrating because we’re not used to that.”
The Blues have six games remaining to get their act together before the Tier II playdowns. The Blues and Austin O’Brien Crusaders are the only Tier II teams in the Carr and they automatically advance unless one of them finishes last and a Tier II team wins the Miles, then a challenge game will be staged to declare the second metro Tier II team.
The Sept. 30 result between the Blues and Crusaders at Clarke Park should determine who the first and second metro seeds are in the Tier II playdowns.
There are also no Carr playoffs this year but the first-place finisher in the nine-team round-robin league format will receive the metro banner and the top six Tier I teams will play off for three provincial berths.
The Bev Facey Falcons are locked and loaded with the explosive Chuba Hubbard in the backfield to win their third Carr championship in a row and ninth in 12 years. Facey is the No. 2-ranked Tier I team in the province.
“I don’t know if anybody is going to beat them this year so our goal from the get-go is just to get better every single game and then we go on to the Tier II provincials,” Strecker said.
Eliminating turnovers on offence would be a step in the right direction for the Blues as the Panthers (1-1) feasted on costly interceptions and fumbles.
The Blues also had trouble protecting the quarterback and had mixed success gambling on third down several times. Untimely penalties also hurt the offence.
“Offensively, we can do better and I’m sure we can bring it the next game,” said Grade 12 slotback Fred Jolicoeur. “Defensively we did a really good job.”
The Panthers turned the ball over on their first possession and Moe Tarrabain was credited with the recovery at the Paul Kane 50.
The Panthers eventually opened the scoring with a run through the middle of the defence for about 30 yards with 2:57 left in the opening quarter.
The first quarter ended with the Panthers picking off a Connor Guy pass and the ball was returned to near the Paul Kane 51.
The Panthers would go on to score off a catch-and-run down the middle for about 30 yards after the Blues were flagged for rough play.
Down 14-0, one of the few punts of the game by the Blues was fumbled by the Panthers and Shoya Lavoie recovered it in scoring territory at the 25. The Blues proceeded to rebound from some penalties to score on Jolicoeur’s 32 TD catch from Guy. A wide-open Jolicouer waited for the ball around the five and trotted in for the major. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful after more Paul Kane penalties.
The next series by the Panthers was a two-and-out as Ethan Brandsma’s sack put the visitors in second and long. Brandsma made numerous plays on defence as one of the bright lights in the loss.
After the punt the Blues huddled up at their 45 and the team’s best drive of the game was highlighted by pass completions to Jolicouer and Keaton Zaychkowsky and runs by Guy and Isaiah Ansah before Zaychkowsky pulled off a slick sideline grab in tight coverage inside the 11-yard line. On first down, Jolicoeur’s reception put the ball at the one and the next play Zaychkowsky crossed the goal line with six ticks left in the half. The two-point conversion was stopped.
The Panthers padded their lead by returning a fumble off a sack with the Blues scrimmaging around their 45 and the TD came with 8:38 left in the third quarter.
The Blues were poised to put points on the board with Zaychkowsky at the controls after Guy spent time on the bench shaking off the side effects from a sack, but the Panthers jumped on a fumble following a completion and took over the possession at their 34 with 3:34 to go before quarter time.
In the last minute of the quarter, Zaychkowsky’s pass attempt on third and two from the Panthers’ 10 fell incomplete.
Rob Parrotta’s sack led to the Panthers giving up a safety in punt formation 22 seconds into the fourth quarter.
In the final six minutes the Panthers kicked a 25-yard field goal, stopped the Blues on third down at the Paul Kane 52, picked off a couple of passes and had two TDs called back because of penalties.
“The effort was there. We pushed hard today, it was just little mistakes as a team and I’m sure we can fix those up coming up next game,” said Jolicoeur, 17. “We’ve got to do something. We’ve got to win.”
The Blues and Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds (0-1) hook up Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Clarke Park.
