It’s looking like 2015 all over again for the St. Albert High Skyhawks in football.
Last year the Skyhawks battled back from a 1-3 start in dramatic fashion to reach the Miles conference division two and Tier III provincial north finals and this year they are poised to duplicate the same feat.
Thursday’s 28-6 decision against the St. Francis Xavier Rams at Riel Recreation Park halted a three-game losing skid with one match remaining before the metro Edmonton playoffs kick-off Oct. 24.
“This was a big turning point,” said Sam Cuciz, a versatile Grade 12 quarterback, safety and punter. “We were under .500 and now we’re going to look towards Scona and see if we can get to .500.”
Wednesday’s game time is 7:30 p.m. against the Strathcona Lords (3-2) at the new Emerald Hills Regional Park Artificial Turf in Sherwood Park.
The only Tier III (school population 450 to 749) team in the Miles finished 6-5 overall last year after going 1-3 with two shutout losses.
“We had a big victory (64-7 over the W.P. Wagner Warriors) and that turned the season around and now we were 1-3 and got a big victory and hopefully it turns the season around again,” said head coach Sam Johnson. “It’s about belief. The boys got to believe in themselves.”
The Skyhawks were outscored 100-49 in four games before the breakthrough performance against the Rams (0-4-1).
“We just haven’t been able to finish and that’s hurt us,” Johnson said. “We were in every ball game. A play here and there and maybe we beat Leduc (27-21 loss). The game got out of hand against O’Leary (31-8 loss last week) and Ardrossan beat the stuffing out of us (42-0).
“I’m hoping we turned the corner here with this win.”
Cuciz, 17, is confident the Skyhawks can pull off another momentum-building winning streak similar to last year.
“It always happened with SACHS that we peak towards the end of the year so I’m anticipating in the playoffs we’ll be coming on strong,” he said.
Looming large is the Tier III north semifinal Nov. 12 against the Mighty Peace league rep in Edmonton.
“I’m very excited. I think we’ll be good to go because again we’ll peak towards the end of the season,” Cuciz said.
In Tier III, the Skyhawks are unranked and there are no Mighty Peace teams listed in the top 10.
Last year the Skyhawks qualified for their third north final in five years as the Tier III metro reps in the 41-35 thriller against the Peace River Pioneers of the Mighty Peace league. The north semifinal marked the third game in four contests the Skyhawks prevailed with late-game heroics.
“We just want to get better every week and be peaking when that playoff time comes, whether it’s league or provincials, just like last year,” Johnson said.
The Skyhawks are younger than last year with 42 players in the fold.
“We’ve got 22 Grade 10s that we’re working with,” Johnson said. “We’ve got kids in leadership positions and the veterans are doing all they can.”
Cuciz believes the Skyhawks have what it takes to go far into November.
“We have a few inexperienced football players but so many excellent athletes,” he said. “Our strength would have to be resilience. Sometimes we’re not always the best football players and the most knowledgeable football players but when we go out there we’ll always outwork you because we’re always working hard.”
The Skyhawks got down to business on their opening drive against the Rams as slotback Connor Lotoski, an impressive large target at six-foot-three, hauled in Cuciz’s pass for about a 30-yard touchdown 3:44 into the contest and Jordan Sperling kicked the first of his four converts.
“That was great because I was telling the guys when we got on the bus to come over here that we’ve got to set the tone and come out flying and we did by scoring on the first drive,” Cuciz said.
The Rams got on the board with a pick-six TD with 1:46 to play in the first half. Cuciz’s swing pass deflected off the receiver’s hands and high into the air for the defender to grab without breaking stride from around the Skyhawks’ 45 and barely out-ran Cuciz to the endzone. The convert was blocked.
On the ensuing kick-off, Christian Pulis went the distance but a clipping infraction negated the TD.
The Skyhawks pulled away on Josh Dyrland’s two-yard TD run to cap off a 63-yard drive with 3:13 to go in the third quarter, highlighted by first-down catches by Dyrland and Joey Ivicak.
A TD-saving tackle by Levi Hansen on the following kick-off put the Rams at the 15 but on second and six they fumbled the ball and Ivicak fell on it back at the nine. On the next play, Pulis busted loose for an electrifying TD run with 37.2 seconds left before quarter time.
Cuciz wrapped up the win with an interception inside the Skyhawks' 10-yard line with 10:27 on the clock and later on found DeAmonte Overman near the sideline in front of the Skyhawks’ bench for a big catch and run to the four. On the next play, Cuciz crossed the goal line with 5:32 remaining.
The Skyhawks’ third-year starting quarterback and Pulis, a speedy Grade 11 running back, gave the Rams fits all game.
“Certainly a lot of credit has to go to our O-line. The blocking up front was great. They certainly stepped up,” Cuciz said.
