So far so good for the St. Albert High Skyhawks.
The No. 2-ranked Tier III team in the province is an unbeatable 5-0 in the division two Miles conference after its third shutout in four games.
“It feels great but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’ve still got a couple of games and then the playoffs so we’ve got to keep working hard every day,” said Kyle Torok-Both, who quarterbacked the Skyhawks in Friday’s 21-0 victory against the St. Francis Xavier Rams in place of the injured starter, Ewan Vanderheide.
Last year’s Skyhawks finished 6-4 as semifinalists in the Miles and finalists in the Tier III (450 to 749 students) provincial north playoffs.
“We’ve got a higher reputation now,” said Evan Selzler, an impressive Grade 11 newcomer to the Skyhawks. “It’s looking good but we’ve got to keep working hard and have fun. Usually when you have fun you have the best game of your life.”
The Skyhawks are averaging a combustible 37 points per game and a revved up defence has allowed only two unconverted touchdowns.
“Everybody on this team works really hard so we’re confident putting everybody on the field. We all know what we’re doing,” Torok-Both said.
Are the Skyhawks surprised by their success?
“We're a little bit but you know what? We’ve worked hard to get to this point and because of all that hard work good outcomes are the result of it,” Torok-Both said.
The Skyhawks close out the regular season against the O’Leary Spartans (1-3-1) Thursday at Clarke Stadium and Leduc Tigers (2-2-1) Oct. 18 at Larry Olexiuk Field. Kickoff times are 7:30 p.m.
The semifinals are Oct. 26 and the final is Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Commonwealth Stadium.
The last metro Edmonton league championship for the Skyhawks in the senior division was 2006 in the Miles.
The Tier III provincial playoffs start with the Nov. 10 north semifinals and last year’s 35-10 loss in the north final to the Holy Rosary Raiders in Lloydminster marked the third time the Skyhawks fell one win short of qualifying for the Alberta Bowl.
The fifth north final in the sixth Tier III appearance for the Skyhawks since 2011 was also the third-straight loss to the four-time Wheatland league champions from the Border City.
The only Tier III Alberta Bowl for the Skyhawks was 2012 in the 31-20 loss to the Cochrane Cobras at Foote Field.
Cochrane, the winner of four-straight Alberta Bowls and five in the last six years, is No. 1 in Tier III and Holy Rosary is No. 3 in the top-10 Football Alberta rankings.
“We’ve got to keep working hard every single day as we get closer and closer,” Selzler said of the provincial playoffs. “We have to ring it up that ladder to get to that provincial title and hopefully take it away from Cochrane.”
The latest win wasn’t pretty but the Skyhawks still got the job done against the stubborn Rams (1-4) despite an outrageous number of penalties on both sides of the ball for the home team.
“It was one of our slowest games that’s for sure,” said Selzler, a two-way middle linebacker and offensive tackle. “Defence held its own like usual. Offence was kind of stalling out here and there but we still put points up.
“We’ll come back next week even harder and stronger.”
The first touchdown was Logan Lysohirka’s three-yard run with 8:50 left in the first half. The 56-yard drive included a couple of first-down dashes by Lysohirka and Justin Stoneham’s 26-yard catch and run to the 14 of the Rams.
Addison Ross kicked the first of three conversions as the 7-0 score stood until halftime even though the Skyhawks wasted a turnover off an interception on a pass thrown into a clump of defenders at the 40 of the Rams after the TD and Jackson Ganton’s highlight-reel catch in front of the 20 with under four minutes before the break. Both times the Skyhawks squandered excellent field position and were forced to punt.
“Coming out at halftime we knew we had to get some fire in our bellies as the coach (Sam Johnson) said. We’ve got to play harder and get going and go 110 per cent every play so we fired it up,” Torok-Both said.
In the third quarter, a jarring hit by Matt Swecera forced a fumble the Skyhawks recovered at the 44 of the Rams. Runs of 15 yards by Torok-Both and six yards by Lysohirka moved the chains to the 15. On first down, Lysohirka was stopped at the one and on the next play Torok-Both called his number as the Skyahwks scored with 20 seconds left before quarter time.
The quarter ended with Swecera falling on a fumble at the 32 of the Rams but the Skyhawks were unable to capitalize on the turnover.
The defence continued to give the offence the ball as Mason Mildenberger picked off a pass at the Skyhawks’ 50. Two minutes later, the Rams coughed up the ball at their 45 on a punt return.
Another in a long list of interceptions by Ganton this season put the ball at the 17 of the Rams and on the next play the dangerous Grade 11 slotback and defensive back zipped into the endzone with 5:51 to play.
“It was a really good game all around,” said Torok-Both, a wide receiver when the 17-year-old isn’t filling in for Vanderheide behind centre while also starting at cornerback.
“It’s a confidence booster when you can get in there and good things happen and you help the team get the W,” said the Grade 12 Skyhawk of his stint at QB. “I threw a couple of ducks though so I’ve got to work on the arm and my spirals but I played pretty well and I did get some good passes off.
“The linemen were blocking well and we got some good blocks on the outside.”
As the match wound, down during a 70-second span Gabriel Forbes smothered a fumble at the 22 of the Rams and Ganton stepped in front of a pass around the 40 of the Rams but was tackled three yards short of the goal line. Once again, the Skyhawks couldn’t generate points off the turnovers they created.
“Defence was just making hard hits every single play and rallying up to the ball all the time,” said Selzler, 16.
The Sherwood Park minor football product who played for the Archbishop Jordan Scots last season before transferring to St. Albert Catholic High School has made an instant impact with the championship contenders.
“My buddy Ewan Vanderheide and Jackson Ganton were out here and they told me how great the school is,” said the six-foot-two, 215-pound Selzler, who has U16 and U17 Team Alberta experience and played for the midget spring league St. Albert Storm this year. “Its an amazing school. It’s fantastic. I couldn’t be happier with my decision coming here.”
