The grand entrance for the Sturgeon Spirits in high school football is Thursday’s arrival in the division three Gilfillan conference.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. against the Ardrossan Bisons at Larry Olexiuk Field.
“We’re really pumped about that game. It’s going to be one heck of a showdown,” said Kolby Phillips, a Grade 11 defensive halfback/safety. “It’s really exciting considering that since we’re a brand new team we get to start making what Sturgeon football is.”
Ardrossan, a division two Miles conference team last year, is expected to be a handful for Sturgeon to stop.
“This will be a good test for us. I believe Ardrossan is the team to beat in our division, so we need to play sound fundamental football and avoid penalties and mental mistakes in order to have success,” said head coach Chad Hill, noting the centrepiece of the Ardrossan offensive attack is speedy running back Keon Nurse. ”We are going to rely on team defence to defend against a potent Bison ground attack.”
Sturgeon will line up defensively without starters Nathan Kipling, a linebacker who suffered an upper-body injury in the 48-0 exhibition win against the Eastglen Blue Devils, and Karl Haasz, a game-changing defensive end who is likely out for the season with a knee injury suffered in the midget spring league with the St. Albert Storm.
Power running back Colten Brenneis will also sit out the metro Edmonton league opener with a lingering lower-body injury from rugby.
Offensively, Sturgeon will rely mightily on the experience of slotbacks Nathan Brake and Chase Kobza, as well as the legs and arm of quarterback Zach Froese. The trio, along with Haasz and Phillips, are among 13 players on the 42-man roster who huddled up for the junior or senior Bellerose Bulldogs last year as Sturgeon Composite High School student athletes.
“It helps a lot knowing that we have people who have done it before, plus Chad was coaching us before, so most of the players know what we’re going to run already from playing at Bellerose,” said Phillips, a senior Bulldog last year.
Sturgeon’s foray into football started from ground zero with a week-long spring camp in June, and the fall camp included exhibitions against Eastglen and the Peace Wapiti Academy Titans of Grande Prairie, plus Saturday’s jamboree against the Whitecourt Cats and Father Mercredi Trappers of Fort McMurray at Larry Olexiuk Field. The Charles Spencer Mavericks of Grande Prairie pulled the plug on the eve of the controlled scrimmage format.
“We had a very positive pre-season. Many new players got valuable reps,” said Hill, the 2016 and 2017 Metro Athletics Coach of the Year in the division one Carr conference and long-time Bellerose teacher before switching schools to construct a winning football program at Sturgeon and was joined by the majority of last year’s coaching staff at Bellerose.
The buildup for the league opener included exhibition wins of 26-0 Aug. 25 over Peace Wapiti, the 2017 Peace Bowl finalist in its first trip to the Mighty Peace league championship who lost the Tier III (450 to 749 students) north semifinal 25-9 to the St. Albert High Skyhawks in Grande Prairie, and last week’s shutout of Eastglen, a Miles conference team last year.
“That was a fun game. It shows us that it's not just our starters that are good; all of our backups also contributed a lot to the win,” Phillips said of the exhibition against Eastglen that was played without special teams and the majority of Sturgeon’s touchdowns were scored on running plays.
“These jamborees are great too for the rookies to get them some extra reps, let them teach up, and even if we lose so be it because we’re still getting the training,” added Phillips, whose twin brother, Kyle, is a receiver who also played for the Bulldogs last year.
Phillips, 16, is confident Sturgeon can pull off a winning season.
“Our D-line is amazing. They've always been getting pressure on the quarterback, which makes our secondary also look phenomenal,” Phillips said. “The offence, with wide receivers like Brake and Chase, they’re gunning out there just like Froese, our QB (and 2017 MVP of the junior Bulldogs), and it's the same with the O-line. They’re all winning the games. It’s just a team effort really.
“We’re definitely not giving up any time soon. We’re not going to let off the throttle. We’re going to try to win every game this season obviously.”
All six Gilfillan teams qualify for the playoffs.
“Hopefully we’ll make it to the championship,” Phillips said of the Nov. 2 final at Commonwealth Stadium.
