Questions were answered for the St. Albert High Skyhawks in Thursday’s season debut in metro Edmonton high school football.
“It tells us who we are because all of us know that we’re a top team in this division and it tells us that we were right for that assumption,” said game star Matt Swecera of the division two Miles conference Skyhawks, 40-6 winners against the M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs at Larry Olexiuk Field.
The Skyhawks, listed fifth in week one of the Tier III (450 to 749 students) Football Alberta rankings as the only metro Edmonton team in the top 10, are back with a bang after graduating 14 players from last year’s 6-4 team.
“It’s always the best day you can get starting off the season with a W,” said Swecera, a grinding running back and tenacious outside linebacker.
Four of the six touchdowns by the Skyhawks were scored after leading 12-0 at halftime.
“We’re happy but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” said head coach Sam Johnson, who instructed the jittery Skyhawks to “chill out, relax and have fun” during a team huddle in the end zone at halftime.
“We were just so tight and our big players that are supposed to make plays for us were trying too hard and sometimes the harder you try, the worse you do. You’ve got to take a step back, take a deep breath and relax, and we did that in the second half and as you saw we put up some points,” said Johnson, the 2017 Metro Athletics Coach of the Year in the Miles.
Thing started to click in the second quarter as Ewan Vanderheide teamed up with slotback Jackson Ganton for a pair of touchdowns before the Skyhawks “really turned on the jets in the second half,” according to Swecera.
“We’ve got a lot of new players. It’s their first high school game and a lot of guys were nervous thinking that. It was a huge step but it really isn’t. It’s pretty much the same guys you’ve been playing against your entire life. I think they realized that in the second half and that’s when the stamina really kicked in and they (Lazerte) all got tired,” said the Grade 11 Skyhawk. “I have to credit it to coach J. He put us through hell in spring camp but it pays off.”
The Skyhawks struggled somewhat on both sides of the ball in the first quarter, prompting Johnson to yell “Calm down!” to his troops at one stage in the proceedings.
A couple of minutes later with the defence on the field, the Skyhawks called a timeout for a pep talk on the sideline.
A holding flagged also nullified a TD run by Nick Romaniuk with 1:18 left until quarter time.
The first TD, a five-yard reception by Ganton while jumping high for the ball in front of two defenders just past the goal line on third down with 2:19 left in the half, was set up by a big run by Vanderheide up the gut to the Lazerte 20, Romaniuk’s reception at the 13 and Logan Lysohirka’s run to the five.
Ganton’s second TD was pure speed by the 2017 All-Edmonton Miles Team defensive back as the Grade 11 Skyhawk reeled in a swing pass around midfield and slipped past a defender along the sideline for a lengthy dash into the end zone with 1:26 remaining before the break.
Vanderheide, a Grade 11 Skyhawk and the team’s starting quarterback last year, completed his third TD pass to a leaping Kyle Torok-Both and the wideout made a juggling grab with a defender tight on his back in the shallow end of the end zone. The 23-yard reception padded the lead to 18-0 with 2:41 to go in the third quarter.
Lazerte, a division three Gilfillan conference finalist last year, returned the ensuing kickoff to pay dirt.
The fourth quarter was all Skyhawks as Swecera crossed the goal line from short range and the steady Torok-Both, filling in for Vanderheide who was favouring his left shoulder area after a play in the third quarter, turned the corner on the right side for long yardage during a pair of majors.
There were plenty of positives from the Skyhawks’ perspective.
“The O-line opened a lot of holes for myself and Logan and they gave Ewan a lot of time back there to air it out and with the D getting the shutout, it was our pursuit like rabid dogs to the steak,” said Swecera, 16.
“Defence played very, very well. We have some great kids on defence. Jared Granoski and Evan Selzler played great,” Johnson added. “You look at the game that Matt Swecera played. Holy smokes! Offence, defence, running the ball, making tackles. The guy is a beast.
“And of course Ewan was very good for us.”
The next game for the 2017 semifinalists in the Miles and Tier III provincial north finalists is 5 p.m. Friday against the Archbishop Jordan Scots at Larry Olexiuk Field.
Meanwhile, the rivalry game against the Paul Kane Blues is Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. Last year in the Miles, Paul Kane beat the Skyhawks 43-30 in week three and 16-3 in the semifinals.
Spotted checking out the first half of the Skyhawks/Lazerte contest was Paul Kane defensive co-ordinator Rick Dorn before departing to join the Blues for their 7:30 p.m. game against the McNally Tigers at Emerald Hills. The Blues won 57-0. See page 37 for details.
It should also be noted that a Jeep Cherokee with a Skyhawks’ logo on the back and an individual behind the wheel was parked on the street in prime viewing location of the joint Paul Kane/Lorne Akins field for the Blues’ practice Aug. 22.
Ironically, all metro Edmonton teams receive game film of their opponents leading up to each game in the schedule.
