The road to provincials ended in Stettler for the St. Albert High Skyhawks.
On a bitterly cold afternoon, a long interception-return touchdown in the third quarter carried the hometown Wildcats to a 21-14 victory over the Skyhawks in the tier III north final last Saturday. The win earned Stettler a berth in the Alberta Bowl high school football championship.
“They were as good as we expected, but we thought we were better,” said Skyhawks’ head coach Sam Johnson. “We should’ve won the ball game.”
The win was the sixth in a row and the ninth in 11 games for the eighth-ranked Wildcats.
“They were a little bigger than we had seen in film, more than we had anticipated,” said Johnson. “They were also a disciplined team. They didn’t take a lot of penalties and when you run into teams like that they’re always good teams. They were also very cordial and gracious winners. They even had a big meal for us after the game.”
Both teams battled through harsh playing conditions at William E. Hay High School.
“It was bitterly, bitterly cold. It was approaching minus 30 with the wind chill and psychologically that was difficult not only for our team but for their team, too,” Johnson said.
The Skyhawks fell behind early as the Wildcats busted loose for a touchdown.
“The field had a lot to do with their first score. It had been swept clean but it was frozen hard and the sidelines were very, very difficult to see. In fact in some spots they were totally gone,” Johnson said. “It was kind of a sweep to our strong side and our corner and D-half who would normally be there actually thought he was out of bounds when he ran, but the refs didn’t call it. Not that we’re making excuses because they should make the tackle anyway.”
After a couple of punt singles made it 9-0, St. Albert quarterback Keith Zyla teamed up with Danton Tait-Vanderheide for a TD strike that covered about 35 yards.
The Wildcats replied with a field goal to make it 12-7.
Tait-Vanderheide’s second TD catch in his first game back after missing three weeks with a knee injury gave the Skyhawks their only lead of the game early in the second half.
“We decided to take the wind in the third quarter and tried to keep them deep and we did that,” explained Johnson. “We were able to have them punt the ball. We got it back and Keith hit Danton again for about a 25-yard touchdown pass. After that it was kind of back and forth. Nobody really mounted much in offence.”
Before the quarter ended, the Wildcats picked off Zyla and returned it about 75 yards for the game-changing touchdown.
“(Zyla) took the weight of the world on his shoulders after that and I just told him it’s not his fault. We win and lose as a team,” Johnson said of the Grade 10 transfer student from Florida. “People don’t realize that this is a 15-year-old kid who played eight or so games under Canadian rules. He’s going to be a good one by the time he is done that’s for darn sure.”
The Wildcats kicked another field goal to round out the scoring.
Tears were shed and hearts were broken after the season ended one win short of a provincial final.
“The last game of the year is always tough, especially for the Grade 12s. They played very hard all year,” Johnson said. “All the boys are competitors as well as the coaches. It was just a difficult loss.”
The first year for the Skyhawks in the tier III playoffs for schools with enrolments between 450 and 749 students exceeded expectations. In the north regional playoffs the fifth-ranked Skyhawks defeated the second-ranked Peace River Pioneers on the road 35-14. The Skyhawks overcame an early deficit against the provincial finalists the last two years with three TD passes from Zyla to Brendan Thera-Plamondon.
The last team from St. Albert Catholic High School to compete in the provincial playoffs was the 2000 tier I north finalist.
“We were in kind of uncharted territory this year so we weren’t sure quite what to expect. It was a learning experience for all of us and hopefully we’ll be a little more prepared for next year,” Johnson said. “As a coaching staff, when we sat down before the start of the season, we were very confident with the great athletes and the great boys that we had. We were confident in our coaching ability and our schemes. We were going to let the chips fall where they may and that’s what we did.”
The Skyhawks were a respectable 4-7 overall in their inaugural campaign without players from Paul Kane High School on the senior team. The only tier III team in the Metro Edmonton league’s competitive Carr Conference finished in a three-way tie at 2-4 for fourth place in the conference.
“It was an up-and-down year. Our overall record didn’t reflect the type of team we were,” Johnson said. “We easily could’ve been 4-2 in our [regular] season and for a small school I was happy with what we did. The boys continued to get better every week and that’s what our goal is. Not only is it about the wins and losses here at St. Albert High, we’re also looking to produce top quality young men and we had a bunch of those on the team this year.”
