The football heroes and clubs of today played host to football stars of tomorrow this past long weekend.
Edmonton played host to the 25th annual Football Alberta Senior Bowl on Monday, an event that is hosted each year by the Edmonton Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders. This competition shows off the best football talent that Alberta high schools have to offer. The athletes were given the opportunity to play in the “Big House”, as the event was held at Commonwealth Stadium this year in celebration of the anniversary.
This event consists of two teams that are pitted against each other in order to highlight some of the province’s best talents in competition. The teams are composed of southern players versus northern players from their high school football programs throughout Alberta.
This event consists of roughly 80 players total. This year, five players from St. Albert’s high schools competed in the game.
Cory Knott and Tyler Turner from Paul Kane High School, and Tyler Moroz, Jack Hanna, and Jacob Neuls from Bellerose High School, were all key aspects in the northern team’s 14-10 win over the south.
The game was a defensive thriller, with the south team being up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter after blocking a punt attempt by the north, then recovering the ball in the end zone to put the south up 7-0. The south pulled their score up after a 34 yard field goal, ending the quarter 10-0.
The score at the end of the first half was left at 10-7 for the south, after an interception by the north.
The second half was a defensive showing by both teams after several stalled drives from both sides. The north pulled away after capitalizing on another turnover by the south, happy with a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter.
Bellerose High School’s Jack Hanna walked away from the game with Linemen of the Game honours.
Planning for the Senior Bowl starts in November, with the selection of coaching staff for both teams. In April two selection camps are held to screen almost 600 nominated players from Alberta. From this selection process, two teams of approximately 40 players are finalized.
During the May long weekend, the teams reconvene for a three day training camp, with the Senior Bowl Game and awards night on the Monday. Next year’s Senior Bowl will be held in Calgary.
More details about this year’s event can be found at www.footballalberta.ab.ca.
