The St. Albert Skyhawks will take an undefeated record into the provincial high school men's rugby championship after winning the Edmonton zone final Monday in Sherwood Park.
The Skyhawks scored six tries and kicked two conversions to defeat the Edmonton Christian Lions 34-26 for their eighth victory in a row to claim the metro Edmonton city conference championship.
"We've gotten into the habit of winning so I don't see why we should break that now at provincials," said head coach Angus MacDonald. "We don't really know what kind of teams are going to be there, but we're going to play our game and do our very best to win a banner for the school."
The perfect record is the team's best showing since winning provincials in 2006 as the metro premier conference champions.
"We're really lucky as a coaching staff that we have a group of dedicated and athletic kids who want to be out here every day," MacDonald said.
The Tier II (3A schools) draw kicks off Friday morning at Ellerslie Rugby Park. The finals are tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
"It's overwhelming and very exciting that we're going to provincials," said Grade 12 flanker Riley Morin. "We're approaching it like we've approached every other game: be aggressive, play as a team, play with heart and stick to our fundamentals."
The zone final was the second provincial qualifying match in four days for the plucky Skyhawks.
"This road to provincials is probably the hardest in the province for any team to go through," MacDonald said.
Comeback victory
The Skyhawks rallied to beat the Beaumont Bandits 14-12 Friday in the metro Edmonton playoff for a shot at the Lions in the zone final.
"That game was a grind," Morin said of the win over Beaumont. "They were pounding the ball right down the centre every single time. We just kept making the tackles and stayed aggressive. That's what won it for us."
A late try by Jake Kazakoff and Devon Gunpatrav's clutch conversion with two minutes remaining completed the comeback against the Bandits (4-2-1), the premier conference finalists.
"It was a really good game for the boys to show some heart and character because that was the first time all season that we played from behind. They scored the first try, which has never happened to us, and then slotted their kick," MacDonald said.
The arrival of Grade 12 speedster Mitch McNamara from winning the senior 200-metre final at the provincial high school track and field championships gave the Skyhawks a big boost.
"He showed up just in time to get in the second quarter. The very next play was a scrum and on his first touch of the game he catches the ball just in front of our 22 and runs it back untouched and scores and we tie up the game," MacDonald said.
In the third quarter, with a Skyhawk in the sin bin, a lengthy defensive stand kept the Bandits out of the try area, but they eventually scored before quarter time. The conversion attempt failed.
Down by five in the fourth quarter, and the Skyhawks pressing for points, Kazakoff dived over the try line after a pick and go off the back of a ruck. Gunpatrav split the uprights.
"It was a big emotional game against Beaumont. The boys were pretty sore coming off that win," said MacDonald, a prop for the first and second division teams at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
Lion tamers
The Lions, 0-5 in the Edmonton public league's Tier I standings, opened the scoring in Monday's showdown with a converted try in the 14th minute. The lengthy drive was kept alive by several Skyhawks' penalties.
Zach Sobchyshyn's try off a maul following a Skyhawks' lineout ball and Gunpatrav's conversion ended the quarter.
The Lions regained the lead with a try two minutes into the second quarter and three minutes later McNamara knotted the score at 12. A run down the right side by Emery Mindana towards the five-metre line, followed by several Skyhawks' passes to the right, sprung McNamara free for the try.
Aaron Fleming's go-ahead try was set up by another run by McNamara. His twin brother, Liam, scored three minutes later under the post on a breakaway and Gunpatrav's conversion made it 24-12.
In the third quarter the Skyhawks pulled away with tries by Evan Warmington's punishing romp and Nick Meronyk's extra effort on the wing. The quarter ended with a staunch defensive stand by the Skyhawks.
After the Lions broke free for a converted try early in the fourth quarter, they continued to press for points, but Warmington ripped the ball away in front of the five-metre line. After marching the ball forward several yards, he dished it off to Craig Trischuk and the Skyhawks' co-captain raced down field and was eventually pulled down from behind in front of the Lion's 40-metre line with only a few minutes left to play.
"In the fourth quarter we were all gassed, but everyone kept making their tackles and kept going hard," Morin, 18.
The first-year rugby player led the Skyhawks in tackles and was named man of the match.
"It was a team win so there really was no one man of the match," Morin said. "We played hard against a really solid team. I'm really proud of the boys."
