If the senior Bulldogs can win the Battle of St. Albert, why not the junior Dawgs?
That’s how the optimistic Bellerose junior team is tackling Tuesday’s confrontation with the St. Albert Hawks. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Riel Park field. Admission is free.
“We’re pretty pumped to play them after the seniors’ game,” Grade 10 quarterback Dallas Moroz said after the Bulldogs blanked the St. Francis Xavier Rams 25-0 earlier this week in St. Albert. “Before that game no one was focusing on the SACHS game but now that we’re done this game, we can really focus on them now.”
The first victory by a senior Bellerose team against the rival St. Albert High Skyhawks after seven losses was last week’s historic 7-0 triumph in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a high school football game in St. Albert.
In the junior version of the St. Albert showdown, the Bulldogs are striving to pull off their first win after eight straight losses. Last year in the four-team premier conference format, the Bulldogs went down to defeat 7-0 and 28-7 to the Hawks.
The last game before the playoffs in the metro Edmonton league will also determine first place in pool B. With 2-0 records the Bulldogs and Hawks, last year’s premier finalist, have spots locked up in the premier playoff bracket. The semifinals are Oct. 27 at Johnny Bright Park and the final is Nov. 4 at Foote Field.
In league and exhibitions combined the Hawks are 3-1 and the Bulldogs 4-0. The Bellerose win totals include a 28-0 exhibition decision over the Austin O’Brien Crusaders (3-0) from pool A.
“St. Albert High should be a good match-up. That’s going to be our biggest test of the season so far,” said Brandon Moulds, a Grade 11 outside linebacker. “We haven’t played Bev Facey [2-1] or Sal [premier champion Salisbury is 3-1] and those are supposed to be the big powerhouses in the other pool.”
Last year in premier the winless Bulldogs scored only 16 points and surrendered 189 in seven losses.
“We have a lot more experience on defence and offence. There is a lot more kids who actually know the game of football. Last year we had a lot of kids that hadn’t played before. This year everyone knows what they’re doing,” Moulds said of the team’s 36-player roster that includes 11 returning Bulldogs. “It’s pretty much been a two-way effort this year. We haven’t really been struggling that much. Our offence has been a juggernaut so far. The first half of games we’ve blown teams out. On defence we’ve given up seven points only in our regular season games [and 14 overall in four wins].”
Against the winless Rams, the Bulldogs got away with several mistakes and some sloppy play to remain undefeated.
“It was a little lower on our expectations level. We played better in our last few games than this one,” Moroz said. “Even though we shut them out and our offence scored 25 points, we could’ve done a little better.”
The Bulldogs capped off their first drive of the game with a 17-yard field goal by the reliable Brandon Beyette.
The Rams would later concede a safety in punt formation.
Touchdown runs by Kyle Duperon from one yard out and Connor Blackburn on a pitch play from the 10 were converted by Beyette to make it 19-0.
“We could’ve had more points but we had a couple of turnovers that stalled our drives,” said Moroz, 15, who quarterbacked the St. Albert Fury last year to the tier II bantam provincial final. The candidate for the Grant Yuzyk Award as the junior league’s MVP also played midget spring football with the 2010 tier II playoff champion St. Albert Storm.
The Bulldogs cashed in a fumble recovery in Rams’ territory for six points with 2:56 left in the third quarter.
Late in the quarter, a tackle by Moulds left the Rams facing third and long from the Bellerose 13. On the next play, Moulds busted through and sacked the startled quarterback at the 22.
After the turnover on downs, the Bulldogs went two-and-out and a mistake by the punt team gave the Rams the ball at the Bellerose 27. On first down, the Rams completed a pass and the receiver was rocked by Shawn Hebner at the 19. On second and short yardage, a pass fell incomplete as Josh McGann had the intended receiver covered like a blanket. After a run to the 14 by the Rams on third down, Moulds bolted through the heart of the O-line for another sack that pushed the Rams back to the 21. On second down, Andre Sarafinchin led the charge for another sack. On third and long, the Rams attempted a 35-yard field goal but the kick was partially blocked and the Bulldogs took possession deep in their end with 6:45 remaining. A pivotal first-down run by Liam Gray gave the Bulldogs some breathing room to close out the shutout.
“Our defence really shut them down in key situations. When we were pinned on our 20 we made some big plays at big times,” said Moulds, 16, a tenacious tackler who hunts down quarterbacks with roadrunner speed.
