Foote Field – The St. Albert High Skyhawks are on the verge of greatness in high school football. The first provincial championship in St. Albert history is only one win way for the Skyhawks after they whipped the St. Paul Lions 52-10 in the Tier III north final. “It really is surreal for us right now,” said Sam Johnson, head coach of the 9-3 Skyhawks, following Saturday's post-game pray at midfield involving both teams.
Foote Field – The St. Albert High Skyhawks are on the verge of greatness in high school football.
The first provincial championship in St. Albert history is only one win way for the Skyhawks after they whipped the St. Paul Lions 52-10 in the Tier III north final.
“It really is surreal for us right now,” said Sam Johnson, head coach of the 9-3 Skyhawks, following Saturday’s post-game pray at midfield involving both teams.
The date with destiny for the Skyhawks is the Alberta Bowl championship this Saturday against the Cochrane Cobras. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. at Foote Field and admission is $5.
“To make it all the way to the provincial championship is a great feeling, especially after losing in the Carr conference final,” said Rocky Borrelli, a two-way Skyhawk who scored two touchdowns against the Lions.
The Skyhawks are the first St. Albert team to advance to the Alberta Bowl since the 1997 Storm in Tier I.
“We’re all excited as a team right now to be in the final, especially the seniors. For some of us it will be our last game. Hopefully we get a win,” said Brendan Cunningham, a Grade 12 defensive halfback.
Cochrane (11-1), ranked second in Tier III (school population 450 to 749) by Football Alberta, defeated the No. 8-ranked Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs (3-6) of Lethbridge 35-7 in the south final.
Last year’s provincial finalist also knocked off the undefeated Crescent Heights Vikings of Medicine Hat 32-16 after trailing 14-0 in the south semifinal.
Cochrane is making its first trip to the Alberta Bowl since winning the 2008 title, the sixth in seven years during a run of 22 consecutive appearances in the provincial playoffs.
“We don’t know much about them but Cochrane is always good traditionally,” Johnson said. “We’re going to try and get film for tomorrow and then we’ll see what they are like and then we’re going to prepare like we always prepare.”
The Skyhawks are ranked a surprisingly low sixth as the only Tier III team in the metro Edmonton league’s Carr conference.
After taking it on the chin 51-14 by the Bev Facey Falcons in the Carr final, the Skyhawks rebounded to crush the No. 7-ranked Peace River Pioneers (6-5) 49-28 in the first provincial high school game staged in St. Albert before the beat-down of the No. 3-ranked Lions (9-2).
“It’s really been a team effort to get this far. Every week we fight hard. We all want to fight for each other,” Borrelli said.
Defensive demons
It was vintage Skyhawks’ defence on display against the Lions with several third-down stops and a bunch of fumble recoveries. The Wheatland league champions were flagged for more penalties in the game – including a player ejection in the opening quarter – than first downs against the Garret Doll-coached defence.
The only points by the Lions was a safety with 2:05 left in the first half and a one-yard TD run and two-point conversion with 3:24 remaining in the game. An illegal procedure penalty against the Lions also wiped out a 73-yard TD run late in the third quarter.
“Garret Doll is maybe the best defensive co-ordinator in the province. He does a great job of breaking down our opposition’s film and is well prepared. He’s very hard to surprise. Our defence is always ready for their best play. I’m very happy to have him with us,” Johnson said of the former Calgary Stampeder and co-principal at St. Albert Catholic High School.
The Skyhawks scored twice off turnovers in the opening five minutes against the befuddled Lions.
“We always want to come out hard on defence, just to show them the backbone of this team, so it was great to get out to a 14-0 lead. It really set the pace for the rest of the game and our whole team just meshed after that,” said Borrelli.
The Grade 12 cornerback returned a fumble 33 yards to the endzone on the second offensive series by the Lions, on first and 10 at their 35.
“I was following the play and I saw the ball on the ground. I was surprised nobody had picked it up so I kind of scooped it up and just hoped it didn’t fall out of my hand and started running as fast as I could,” Borrelli said.
The Lions took the opening kickoff at their 39 and on second down, Max Chabot led the defensive charge to force a fumble that Cunningham alertly fell on at the St. Paul 43.
“I just saw someone crank the quarterback and the ball popped out and I dove on it,” Cunningham said. “I was hoping it would set the tone for the offence to get a touchdown and for us to play our game.”
After the turnover, first-down plays by running back Matti Thurlin, slotback Brendan Thera-Plamondon and quarterback Keith Zyla set up Thera-Plamondon’s five-yard TD to draw first blood.
The team’s third TD was Chandler Duff’s 34-yard catch and run with 2:34 left until quarter time.
In the second quarter, after a Zyla pass fell incomplete on third and nine at the St. Paul 28, the Lions drove the ball down the field but were stopped on third and nine at the Skyhawks’ two.
The first half ended with the Skyhawks in front 21-2 after Josh Barwick broke up a pass play in the secondary and the Lions looking at third and six at the Skyhawks’ 22 with four seconds remaining.
“Sometimes we made a mental mistake but we got past it and played our Skyhawks’ brand defence,” said Cunningham, 17.
Passing attack
The Skyhawks came out throwing to kick off the second half. Zyla hooked up with Thurlin for a 15-yard TD strike to cap off a four-play, 51-yard drive highlighted by catches of 17 and 19 yards by Borrelli.
The next time on offence, Zyla hit Borrelli on the second play from scrimmage and the slippery slotback escaped a tackle in front of the Lions’ bench and out-ran several defenders for the 50-yard major.
Thurlin’s second TD was a seven-yard reception from Zyla with four minutes left in the quarter. Thurlin had a big day catching passes and Zyla, the team’s nominee of the Haliburton Trophy as the metro league’s MVP, was equally as impressive.
In the fourth quarter Chabot kicked a 17-yard field goal and Zyla and Thera-Plamondon worked their magic for a 49-yard TD. Chabot’s seventh convert made it 52-2 with 7:21 to play.
“Our offence was throwing the ball good, catching it good and running well. Everyone was holding blocks. It was great to see,” said Borrelli, 17.
Johnson wasn’t satisfied the Skyhawks led by only 19 at halftime and switched things up with the play calling.
“When we get into trouble, like we did in the second quarter, we think we’re smarter than we really are and we try and run the ball too much and it’s our pass that sets up our run,” he explained. “We went in at halftime and said let’s do what we do well, which is get the ball in the hands of our playmakers, which are Rocky and Thera and Thurlin and Keith. That’s what we wanted to do and that’s we did in the second half.”
