The St. Albert Storm are winless in the Capital District Minor Football Association’s midget spring league after suffering their second loss at home to kick off the Tier I and II schedule.
An injury-riddled and depleted lineup trailed by 22 points in the third quarter, en route to a 25-16 loss to the Edmonton Chargers on Friday night at Riel Recreation Park.
The Chargers aired the ball out for touchdown passes of 20 yards in the opening quarter and 46 yards in the second quarter, followed by a pass completion on the two-point conversion.
The third quarter started with a 62-yard TD run by the Chargers and the extra point was good.
The Chargers made it 22-0 with a rouge.
The Storm got on the board with an 11-yard TD run by Josh Coogan to cap off a 75-yard drive. Greg Flemming ran in the two-point conversion with a nifty cut-back run.
The Chargers closed out the quarter with a 22-yard field goal to make it 25-8.
Flemming scored his third TD of the season on a 13-yard gain, set up by a long pass completion from Matty Short to Grade 9 slotback Corbin Stewart. They also combined on the two-point conversion.
Short started at quarterback after one practice and was 7-for-17 passing for 124 yards and was sacked twice.
Stewart caught three passes for 79 yards and Flemming had four receptions for 45 yards.
Flemming also rushed for 60 yards on 12 carries.
Graeme Loerke led the defensive charge with 10 tackles and one sack. Loerke and Jack Hanna made numerous big hits in the front seven and they also played on the offensive line.
Nick Cowan had seven tackles and averaged 43.9 yards on seven punts.
Trevor Rosaasen also registered a sack and returned six punts for 43 yards.
The next contest for the team of Grade 9, 10 and 11 players is Friday against the Millwood Grizzlies. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at the Riel turf field. Admission is $5 for adults and children under 12 get in free.
Last year the Storm won two games and both were against Millwoods.
Four graduating Grade 12 St. Albert Skyhawks were selected to the Football Alberta Senior Bowl north all-star team.
Receivers Rocky Borrelli and Brendan Thera-Plamondon, offensive lineman Matt Clark and linebacker Brad Hoddinott from the 2012 Tier III provincial silver medallists and Carr conference finalists in the metro Edmonton league made the 40-player roster.
Garrett Meek, a former bantam Fury and midget Storm player with the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds, will line up on the defensive line.
Tryouts for the north all-star team were held last weekend at Clarke Park.
The 24th annual Senior Bowl between the north and south all-stars is May 20 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
The 17-player roster for the midget AAA St. Albert Cardinals has been finalized for the upcoming season.
This year’s Cardinals are Mathieu Brisson, Connor Burns, Greg Dekinder, Jake Fisher, Adam Foo, Tanner Karpinski, Evan Loranger, Alex Marthiensen, Tyler Mecir, Matt Quartel, Jared Roddelt, Eric Sabrowski, Tyler Schwendeman, Gray Symington, Triffon Tatarin, Jackson Wark and Austin Watamaniuk.
Brisson, Burns, Dekinder, Karpinski, Mecir, Symington and Tatarin are returning players.
C.J. Jayasekera is the field manager for the third year in a row. Assistant coaches are Taylor Burns, Cam Houston and Kevin Watamaniuk.
The Cardinals make their season debut in the April 27 doubleheader against the host Okotoks Dawgs Black in the NorWest Midget AAA Baseball League.
The home opener is May 1 against Edmonton 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Legion Memorial Park.
Last year the Cardinals placed sixth in the 11-team circuit at 15-16 after going 7-25 for ninth place in 2011.
At the performance Tier I provincials the Cardinals improved on their winless performance in 2011 with two wins as the seventh seed in the 11-team draw.
The bantam AAA St. Albert Cardinals will field a lineup this season with only one returning player in the fold.
Dylan Gates is joined by newcomers Max Barclay-Ward, Nathaniel Brisson, Peter Corrigan, Spencer Dronkelaar, Ryley Fetter, Jeremy Gamracy, Dan Gerlach, Tylor Jans, Anthony Owen, James Robillard, Cole Seitz, Ross Suprunuik and Danny Tkachyk.
Dave Maguire, last year’s Ted Rudd Coach of the Year Award winner, is back as the bench boss. Maguire guided the Red Birds to a third-place finish at the performance Tier I provincials and the semifinal round at westerns. The Cardinals finished 39-12 overall after posting a 22-12 record in 2011 with Maguire as the field manager.
