Clarke Stadium – The undefeated and unstoppable Paul Kane Blues are one win away from a championship season in metro Edmonton football.
Thursday’s 53-14 playoff pounding of the Ardrossan Bisons propelled Paul Kane into the division two Miles conference final against the Sturgeon Spirits or Leduc Tigers. Friday’s kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Commonwealth Stadium.
“We are hungry for that win,” said Jacob King, who was exceptional quarterbacking Paul Kane to its seventh victory without a loss.
Friday’s semifinal result between Sturgeon and Leduc was unavailable at press time.
A Sturgeon victory would guarantee Paul Kane the second metro Edmonton berth in the Tier II (750 to 1,249 students) provincial playdowns.
If Leduc wins, the final would also double as the Tier II qualifier to see who will play the Lloydminster Barons of the Wheatland league in the Nov. 9 north semifinal in the Border City.
The Football Alberta Tier II rankings list Paul Kane eighth and Leduc ninth. Sturgeon is also ranked fourth in Tier III (450 to 749 students).
“We have one more week to bust out practices then win that final and it’s on to provincials,” King said.
Leduc (4-1) is a pool B team while Paul Kane started league play with the 28-7 decision against Sturgeon (6-1) in pool A.
Sturgeon is also the metro Edmonton Tier III rep in the Nov. 9 north semifinal against the host Whitecourt Cats of the Mighty Peace league.
“We want to play Sturgeon. We want another crack at them,” said Daniel Mercado, a Grade 10 slotback and outside linebacker who was over the moon about performing on the same field as the Edmonton Eskimos in the upcoming final. “It’s very exciting. I want to play there.”
Mercado, 15, turned a somewhat tight affair into a runaway with his game breaking 95-yard pick-six and Aidan Purdon’s convert made it 30-14 with 1:39 left in the first half.
“We were in man coverage and I’m backing up and I saw (the receiver) run the quick out. I saw the quarterback look right at him and I was like, 'You know what? This is my ball.' I saw that ball in the air, I jumped up and caught it and went all the way with it,” said Mercado of the highlight of the night.
Ardrossan (5-2), a pool B team and last year’s division three Gilfillan conference champion, 31-2 over Sturgeon in the final, is ranked fourth in Tier IV (449 or less students).
Ardrossan was coming off a one-point playoff outcome against the No. 9-ranked Tier III St. Albert High Skyhawks (4-3) – last year’s Miles conference finalists who lost pool A games of 17-14 to Paul Kane and 35-17 to Sturgeon – while Paul Kane had the first-round bye.
“One thing we’ve been stressing all week is do not take any opponent lightly and Ardrossan is an example of that. SACHS thought they could take this team lightly and come out and kill them because they played in a division lower last year, but they bit the tail on that one. They lost 9-8 in a close game and we knew once we saw that tape that they were going to be a tough team and they’re going to be worth playing,” King said. “We did come out slow. We had a rough first two quarters, but once that pick (by Mercado) happened the energy shifted our way.
"We also had a talk in the dressing room (at halftime) about how we need to kick it up and that’s what we did. We came out and fought for the victory.”
Paul Kane’s exceptional defence, that averaged 7.6 points against in six pool A games, was victimized by the same receiver with sideline catches in single coverage for touchdowns of 61 yards a couple of plays after Ardrossan fielded the opening kickoff and 66 yards to close the gap to 16-14 with 8:13 to go before halftime.
Paul Kane pulled even at seven on its second series with the first of three rushing TDs by Purdon. A sizable punt return by Roka Phelan-Baker to the Ardrossan 24 and a first-down reception by Jhimuel Vergado put the wheels in motion for Purdon’s up the gut nine-yard major. The Grade 11 running back also kicked the first of his seven converts.
The next series for Paul Kane ended with Phalen-Baker fumbling away a reception off a long throw by King while tackled en route to the endzone and Ardrossan recovered the ball at its four. Ardrossan went on to concede a safety in punt formation in the last minute before quarter time.
On the following possession, Paul Kane marched the ball with King gobbling up the yards, in addition to two unnecessary roughness penalties to Ardrossan on plays against against King and Phalen-Baker. The sequence of events resulted in Purdon’s four-yard TD to cap off the 75-yard drive with 8:49 remaining in the half.
After the kickoff following Ardrossan's second TD, King’s 33-yard scamper to the 22 set the stage for a shot to the endzone, but Phalen-Baker tipped the ball up in the air on the attempted reception and it was snagged by a defender and returned for a short gain. However, three flags were thrown against Ardrossan and the ball was put at the one for Purdon to push across.
Leading up to Mercado’s interception return to daylight was the TD-saving saving tackle by Matt Mah on the receiver who got behind him on a deep ball.
Ardrossan also benefited from penalties against Paul Kane to further advance the ball to the 15 when Mercado basically sealed the deal.
“It was amazing. It was a close score and when I got that pick I knew it shifted the game in our favour,” Mercado said. “We had a slow start, but when we hit the second and third quarters we started picking that (stuff) up and it was pretty much ours.”
The second half featured Phalen-Baker reeling in King’s 30-yard TD pass from behind and above a defender while around the goal line. The scoring drive included a clutch 34-yard second-down catch and run by Mercado to midfield and Purdon’s 14-yard reception at the 30.
Will Mah also picked off a pass at the Ardrossan 34 that led to King’s 13-yard TD dash in the last minute as the third quarter ended 44-14.
Dylan Cabral’s 21-yard TD run, Andrew Gargan’s interception and a defensive surge for another safety closed out the contest.
“We’re more than happy to win this game. We’re excited,” said King, one of several key returnees from last year’s 3-3-1 squad that finished in a four-way tie for the last two playoff spots in the eight-team Miles conference and too many tiebreakers went against Paul Kane.
“Last year we had a bonded team we thought, but a lot of them didn’t really click. This year all of us are clicking on a new level. We all support each other and that's what is making us undefeated. We have a bond like no other team,” said King, 15.
This year’s Miles conference final is Paul Kane’s first since losing 37-0 to the Strathcna Lords in 2017 and the fourth in seven years, including the 2013 and 2014 undefeated championship seasons.
