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Paul Kane playoff driven

Paul Kane Blues undefeated in high school football
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GAINING GROUND – Roka Phalen-Baker of the Paul Kane Blues looks for an opening against the O'Leary Spartans in division two Miles/division three Gilfillan conference pool A action in the metro Edmonton league. Paul Kane (6-0) huddles up Thursday in the Miles conference semifinal against the Ardrossan Bisons (5-1) and kickoff is 5 p.m. at Clarke Stadium. CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette

The Paul Kane Blues are approaching Thursday’s semifinal undefeated with an unrelenting attitude.

“It’s all about urgency. That’s what our coach talks about a lot. Urgency keeps us together and keeps us focused on the main point of football. It’s not always going to be fun. You have to work for what you want,” said Ty Bates, a Grade 10 starter on offence and defence.

Kickoff is 5 p.m. against the Ardrossan Bisons at Clarke Stadium and the winner will huddle up against the Sturgeon Spirits or Leduc Tigers in the Nov. 1 final at 7:30 p.m. at Commonwealth Stadium.

Paul Kane is coming off a first-round bye after a robust 6-0 showing in pool A of the inaugural division two Miles/division three Gilfillan conference format in the metro Edmonton league to determine the Miles and Gilfillan playoff teams.

“Everyone is excited. This ball has been rolling for us here and we just want to keep that momentum going,” said head coach Rob Strecker.

Ardrossan (5-1) benefited from the St. Albert High Skyhawks (4-3) self destructing in Thursday’s strange playoff affair as the combination of ill-timed penalties, a fumble within spitting distance of the goal line and a botched field goal attempt from short range with seconds remaining allowed the Bisons to hang on to win 9-8 for the semifinal spot in the Miles’ bracket.

Ardrossan, last year’s Gilfillan champion in the division three league, is ranked fourth in Tier IV (449 or less students) provincially and Paul Kane is eighth in Tier II (750 to 1,249 students).

Leduc (4-1) is ranked ninth in Tier II and how the playoffs unfold in terms of which team goes the farthest will determine whether the Tigers or Paul Kane will be the second metro Edmonton provincial rep.

However, if both teams lose in the semifinals, then a play-in game will be staged to see who will tackle the host Lloydminster Barons of the Wheatland league in the Nov. 9 Tier II provincial north semifinal.

“Instead of hoping someone takes care of business for us I just hope we take care of our own business and we’ll go from there,” said Strecker of Paul Kane qualifying for the Tier II provincials for the first time since 2017 when it was the Miles’ finalist.

Ardrossan, a pool B team, is a dangerous foe, according to Bates.

“They’re a really athletic team and a strong team. We’ve just got to work together and not over-think or under-think their team as a whole,” said the sure-handed wideout and versatile safety/cornerback.

Strecker noted Ardrossan “has a few weapons” Paul Kane must be leery of.

“Number 11 is a fantastic receiver. He's sort of their game breaker so he's going to give us problems. He plays both ways. He’s a really good sort of a hybrid linebacker/defensive back so he causes a lot of grief on defence and on offence he’s their fly sweeper. He’s their go-to guy for the deep ball so we need to control him,” Strecker said. “Their quarterback is athletic and elusive so we’ve got to watch out for him also.”

Paul Kane will welcome the return of standout lineman Marshall Missins (arm) against Ardrossan and Strecker is hopeful Cam Mah (wrist) and Ryan Holmes (ankle), a pair of quality defensive starters, will be good to go as well. Missins and Mah were injured in week two in the first half of the emotionally charged 17-14 victory over the Skyhawks.

“We were banged up and we’re starting to get healthy now, which is great, but we’re still not 100 percent,” Strecker said of the nicked up team roster.

The extra time off after the last pool A game, 51-6 against the Strathcona Lords (2-3-1) Oct. 10, gave Paul Kane a big boost.

“That rest really helped us and let us regenerate and feel a little bit better about ourselves so we're ready to hit the field again,” Bates said.

Strecker is happy with how the season has unfolded, especially after missing the Miles’ playoffs last year at 3-3-1.

“The defence has been stellar, absolutely outstanding all year, and offensively we’ve done some good things, but what we did two weeks ago against Strathcona was kind of how I was hoping that we would’ve been doing throughout the whole year. We did some good things offensively, but that game we just clicked so I’m hoping we can continue with that,” Strecker said.

Bates, 15, summed up the season so far as good but not great.

“We’ve played really good as athletes, but I don’t think we’ve played as a team and that’s why we need to come together for the playoffs in order to take it home,” said Bates, a reliable target along with Roka Phalen-Baker and Will Mah for quarterback Jacob King to sling the ball to.

As for the team’s strength offensively, “It’s repetition. We go over everything constantly so all the guys know what we’re doing. It's really good to know we have it set in our minds, like muscular memory almost,” Bates said.

On defence, with co-ordinator Rick Dorn running the show, “You just do your job and worry about yourself and not try and do everything on the field. If you do everything you’re supposed to do then everything will work,” Bates said.

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