Year of hope for Blues

Optimism is the buzzword surrounding the Paul Kane football team after missing the playoffs last year.

Head coach Rob Strecker emphasized the positives on the eve of the season opener for the Blues.

“Athleticism and team speed, offence and defence, is going to be our strengths this year,” said Strecker at Wednesday’s practice. “There are no weakness on our defence that I see just because of team speed and having (Grade 11 quarterback) Jacob King back with a year under his belt is going to help us out tremendously. It’s going to give him more confidence.”

The Paul Kane teacher provided a breakdown of the 40-plus player roster that includes some females.

“We are bringing back some strong core players from last year’s team,” said Strecker, listing off names like King, Marshall Missins, Aidan Purdon and the Mah brothers, Matt and Cam.

“We’re fortunate enough that we have a super core of the bantams coming up,” said Strecker of the arrivals that include Will Mah, Brady Cooke, Danny Mercado and Ty Bates. “Instantly they’re going to help our team.

“We’ve also had a really good influx of Grade 9 students coming in that I know are athletes that want to try football so that helps.

“We’re affiliated with (Alexandre) Tache so a couple of their players have come out and some big boys are going to help us on the line.

“And the one thing I’m excited about is I have been on a number of boys to play football and finally in their Grade 12 year they’re playing football. They’re basketball studs: Roka (Phalen-Baker) and Ryan Holmes.

“I also have Andrew Gargan too who pays rugby.”

The drawback with the newcomers to the sport is their football IQ.

“You get those young guys and the new guys who haven’t played before so that’s going to be a challenge. Athletically they’re there right now but mentally learning the game of football is not there yet so we still need some time,” said Strecker, who got a glimpse of the team’s potential during Tuesday’s joint practice with the Ardrossan Bisons at Paul Kane.

“We saw some good things, but there is still a lot of work to be done and we still have some time before we get going.”

Paul Kane’s metro Edmonton lid-lifter is 5 p.m. Friday against the Sturgeon Spirits at Larry Olexiuk Field.

“I’m stoked for this year,” said Missins, a two-way starting lineman last year in Grade 10. “From what I’ve seen in our spring camps and this last week (of training camp) I’m super excited.

“With the people we have coming in we’ve got a lot of strengths,” Missins added. “We’ve got a pretty strong team this year all around.”

Paul Kane graduated around 12 players from the 3-3-1 (167 PF/119 PA) lineup that finished in a four-way tie for the last two semifinal berths in the eight-team division two Miles conference.

This year however the metro league divided 13 teams into two pools to determine the playoff qualifiers in the Miles and division three Gilfillan conferences.

Paul Kane is slotted in pool A with Sturgeon (Gilfillan finalist in the inaugural season of football at the Namao high school), St. Albert High Skyhawks (finalists in the Miles and Tier III provincial north playoffs), Strathcona Lords (2-4 in the division one Carr conference), McNally Tigers and O’Leary Spartans from the Miles and the Beaumont Bandits of the Gilfillan.

Pool B is comprised of the defending Miles’ champion Archbishop Jordan Scots, Ardrossan, last year’s Gilfillan champion, M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs, Leduc Tigers, St. Francis Xavier Rams and Lillian Osborne Legends.

“Our pool is a killer. It’s the toughest of the two by far. Every game there is no cupcakes out there. It’s going to be challenging,” said Strecker, noting Strathcona returning from the Carr “is going to make a big difference being a big school like that with all their athletes.”

On the plus side, Paul Kane will huddle up in the playoffs, whether it's the Miles or Gilfillan.

“I’m going to be honest, when they talked about (the realignment) I didn’t even think about the bottom tier (Gilfillan). For me, obviously you want to go to the Miles,” Strecker said. “But it’s going to be tough. You’re going to have to be ready to play every game.”

Last year Paul Kane stumbled through a 0-3-1 stretch that defined their season before winning its last game 42-0 against the Rams.

One of the losses was 29-0 to the Skyhawks and the rivalry game between the teams is Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. at Larry Olexiuk Field.

The 14-14 draw with Leduc (3-3-1) was decided late in the game as the Tigers marched the ball and scored the game-tying touchdown with 45 seconds to play and on its final possession Paul Kane drove the ball to the Leduc 35 but, because of injuries, the Blues elected to go for it on the last play rather than kick a field goal and were unsuccessful.

“It was frustrating. To end in a four-way tie and lose in all the tiebreakers and not get into the playoffs left a bitter taste in my mouth,” said Strecker after the previous season when Paul Kane reached the final and lost 37-0 to Strathcona, “In reflecting on last year, we just didn’t get it done late in the game when we had opportunities and this year we need to change that. There has to be urgency because we saw what happened last year. It took only one play and all of a sudden you’re out of the playoffs.”

Missins described the season as “a bit rough” in missing the playoffs.

“It was like one play, just not being able to punch that last ball in and just not being able to finish,” Missins said. “It sucked because we lost every tiebreaker that we needed to break to get into the playoffs, but this year we’re really looking to change that up and learn how to finish and punch that ball in for that touchdown.”

Missins expects the offensive unit will rise to the occasion with King – the fifth-leading rusher in the Miles with 504 yards on 83 runs while going 35-for-91 passing for 473 yards and five TDs and three interceptions, including a pair of picks against the Skyhawks – at the controls.

“We’ve got a strong line so we’ll be able to run that ball hard. We’ve got some strong receivers coming up and some really good ones returning as well, plus we have Jacob throwing the ball."

The six-foot-three, 250-pound big body with nimble basketball feet was a rock at inside tackle and left guard in his rookie season and this year will remain in his same offensive position while shifting to outside tackle.

“Going both ways last year wasn’t easy. It’s a lot of hard work. You’ve got to push to do what you want to do,” Missins said. “If you work hard you’re going to have good things come your way.”