The comeback kids did it again.
The St. Albert High Skyhawks scored the winning points against the St. Francis Xavier Rams with another thrilling finish in their second playoff game in four days in Miles division two football.
The come-from-behind 27-25 result after edging the Strathcona Lords 23-22 lifted the Skyhawks (5-3) into Saturday’s final against the McNally Tigers (7-0). Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. at Clarke Park and admission is $5.
“After coming back to win in back-to-back games like that everyone believes that no matter what situation we’re put in we can come back and get it done,” said wideout Bryan Breda.
His electrifying touchdown reception in the endzone with 50 seconds to play and Marco Cupelli’s convert put the Skyhawks on top against the SFX Rams (5-2).
“I was on the brink of tears. It was that exciting. We came back again like we had no doubt that we were going to do it,” Breda said.
On first down at the SFX 25, quarterback Sam Cuciz aired the ball out for the speedy Breda to reel in.
“It was a perfect throw that ended up right in my hands,” Breda said. “I was just streaking down the sideline. I was trying to get past my corner as fast as I can to get open, and when I turned I saw the ball coming my way so I got in front of him and jumped up and I held on to it for dear life. I just squeezed it. I said to myself, ‘I can’t drop this.’”
It was a moment frozen in time.
“Bryan just climbed the ladder basically and grabbed it out of the air,” said running back Brendan Gervais, a prominent Skyhawk in the comeback charge. “After the pass was thrown, I saw a flag on the field and when the ref pointed the penalty was on their defence our entire bench and the entire stadium erupted.”
The drive started at the Skyhawks’ 35 with under two minutes remaining after the Rams were forced to punt following Kris Akkerman’s quarterback sack for a seven-yard loss. Gervais rattled off first downs, including a key catch-and-run for about 30 yards. On second down, Anthony Borrelli took a handoff and ran to the 25, setting the stage for Breda’s dramatic TD, his third in as many games.
“When Kris Akkerman got that sack on the QB that’s when that whole momentum came towards us,” Breda said.
After the kick-off following Breda’s TD, Cuciz stepped in front of a pass on the first play from scrimmage to seal the deal.
“It was kind of almost like a repeat of what we did against Scona (23-22 in the opening playoff round) but this time we were more excited considering how bad we lost to SFX in the beginning of the year,” said Gervais of the 25-0 loss in St. Albert to start the season at 0-2. “We realized halfway through the game we were a different team because we were only down three (16-13) going into the half but the thing with our team is you can never really count us out of it because we just all believe in each other.”
Cuciz also hooked up with Brady Gonek in the first quarter and Borrelli in the second quarter on lengthy catch-and run TDs.
It was 25-13 SFX when the Skyhawks caught fire offensively. Daniel Johnson scored out of the backfield with under three minutes to play after Cuciz and Breda teamed up to put the ball at the five and a penalty moved the ball even closer to the goal line.
“Late in the game our offence clicked and we finally broke through their defence and won the game,” said Gervais, who kick-started the drive on Johnson’s TD with a 15-yard run, followed by the first of two catches by Breda, as the Grade 12 Skyhawk tore the ball away from a defender and gained 10 yards before he was tackled.
“The nice thing about our offence too is we don’t have one weapon. It was balanced scoring against SFX. There is not one big weapon on our team. Our quarterback can throw it to anyone and we’re dangerous once we get the ball,” Gervais added.
The fourth win in a row was a remarkable milestone for the surging Skyhawks. The last time they put that many wins together was 2012, en route to the Carr conference final before the merger of the metro and Edmonton public leagues. That was also same year the Skyhawks lost the Tier III (school population 450 to 749) Alberta Bowl final.
“We’re heating up as a team and at this point in the season it’s the right time you want to be winning games,” Gervais said. “We don’t want this streak to end and we’re going to give it everything we can to make it continue. We want to come home with a championship.”
The Skyhawks will have their hands full against McNally. Last year’s finalists are ranked ninth in Tier II (750 to 1,249 students). The Skyhawks’ last loss was 35-0 to McNally in the rain and wind in St. Albert.
“We know McNally is a strong team and we can’t take any plays off. They’ve got some really good players and hopefully we limit their ability,” said Breda, 17.
The Skyhawks have shown marked improvement on both sides of the ball after failing to score a point against McNally.
“We’re a completely different team since we played them. We’ve clawed back and found ways to win games and that was easily seen against Scona and SFX,” said Gervais, 17. “Our record we finished with in the season (3-3 before the playoffs) is not indicative of the type of team we are. We just kind of let our focus off in the losses we had during the season and when the season ended we saw it as a new season. The playoffs are always different from the regular season in any sport you play and we just saw the playoffs as a second opportunity to prove everyone wrong and that we can play and win.”
Next week, the Skyhawks will prepare for the Tier III provincial playoffs and the north semifinal is Nov. 14 against the host Peace River Pioneers (6-3) of the Mighty Peace league. The Skyhawks are ranked seventh and the Pioneers are ninth in the Football Alberta top-10 listings.
“We’re excited that we get to play this week and then next week as well but our biggest worry right now is playing McNally and winning this game and then once that is all over we’ll worry about Peace River,” said Gervais, an impressive Grade 12 first-year football player who led the Skyhawks in rushing with 238 yards on 37 carries.
