The Sturgeon Spirits are not backing down from a fight against the defending division two Miles conference champions.
The second-year football team enters Friday’s playoff battle against the Archbishop Jordan Scots with five wins in a row as the No. 4-ranked Tier III (450 to 749 students) in the province.
Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Clarke Stadium.
“We’re going in with our heads high,” said Addison Chabbane, a Grade 12 lineman with the 5-1 (204 PF/73 PA) pool A Spirits. “We’re keeping the momentum up that we’ve got going.”
The Scots (187 PF/44 PA) finished in a three-way tie with the Leduc Tigers (123 PF/54 PA) and Ardrossan Bisons (126 PF/69 PA) at 4-1 for top spot in pool B and the tie-breaker formula left the Sherwood Park squad slotted third.
The lone loss for the Scots was 16-0 to Leduc and the last game before the playoffs was 28-21 against Ardrossan.
Friday's winner plays Leduc in the Oct. 25 semifinal at 5 p.m. at Larry Olexiuk Field with a berth on the line in the Nov. 1 final at Commonwealth Stadium.
Last year, the Scots knocked off the St. Albert High Skyhawks 27-12 in the Miles’ final while Sturgeon fell to Ardrossan 31-2 for the division three Gilfillan conference championship.
“That game didn’t show how we played last year. We were a lot stronger as a team than that and that’s something we’ve put into our (butts) to power through this year,” Chabbane said.
The difference between year one and two for Sturgeon is the 19 returning players.
“This year’s team is more put together. Last year’s team there was a lot of uncoordination because it was our first year, but this year it’s way better because everyone has stepped up,” said Dylan Young, a Grade 12 receiver and running back.
Sturgeon also huddled up in the new Miles/Gilfillan conference format featuring pool play to determine the playoff pairings for both conferences after going 6-2 last year against Gilfillan teams and both losses were against Ardrossan.
“People were talking down at us this year and we really showed them what we can do,” Young said of Sturgeon competing against teams that weren't in the Gilfillan. “It’s just exciting going into the playoffs because last year we had a lot of Grade 12s that we relied on and now this year everyone is contributing which is huge for us.”
The season-opening 28-7 loss to the Paul Kane Blues (6-0) Sept. 6 left a lasting impression on Sturgeon for the rest of the season.
“That was the turning point right there. We got our (stuff) together and manned up,” Chabbane said. “The whole team was shocked. We called it deer in the headlights. We didn’t perform at all.”
Sturgeon will have to wait until the final to right a wrong against Paul Kane.
“If we do play them it will be a whole different ball game,” Young said.
Sturgeon also showed it can go toe-to-toe against big bruisers like the Skyhawks and the 35-17 result Oct. 4 ranks as arguably the most important victory in the team’s short history. Massive bragging rights were also at stake in the physical donnybrook.
“It was a St. Albert hype thing. Players on our team know their players and they kind of beaked at each other off record so beating them was huge for us,” Young said.
Sturgeon plans to continue its smash-mouth brand of football in the playoffs.
“We’re going to keep pounding away,” said Chabbane, a bouncer at left tackle and defensive end. “We’re going to go 110 miles an hour.”
Chad Hill, the former longtime head coach of the Bellerose Bulldogs, has Sturgeon firing on all cylinders on the eve of the playoffs.
“We owe it to coach Chad for putting a fire under our (butts) and keeping us in line,” said Chabbane, 17, who played for the junior Bulldogs in Grade 10 when Sturgeon was a feeder school for the Bellerose football program. “He’s a little more than just our coach.”
Young, 17, agreed: “Chad is always putting in a couple of hours a day in film everyday. He’s always getting the most out of us, but he’s letting us have fun too. He’s the real reason why we're all together this year.”
Sturgeon’s last game before the playoffs was Friday’s 58-6 dismantlement of the McNally Tigers (1-5) in St. Albert with running time for most of the match. Period scores were 16-0, 38-0 and 51-0.
Among the multiple of touchdowns were Chabbane’s catch rumbling out of the backfield and Riley Robertson’s short yardage wedge play as the burly ball carrier.
Young, Will Campbell, Marc LeBlanc and Rylan Seewalt were also among the TD scorers and kicker Philip McLay tacked up additional points.
Playoff picture
Thursday marks the first game for the Skyhawks (4-2, 196 PF/77 PA) since the stunning loss to Sturgeon and the team’s playoff opponent is Ardrossan. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Clarke Stadium.
In the Football Alberta rankings, the Skyhawks are seventh in Tier III and Ardrossan is third in Tier IV (449 or less students).
The winner will challenge Paul Kane in the Oct. 24 semifinal at 5 p.m. at Clarke Stadium and St. Albert football fans are rooting for another Battle of St. Albert after Paul Kane upended the Skyhawks 17-14 Sept. 13.
Paul Kane and Leduc are ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, in Tier II (750 to 1,249 students).
Paul Kane (195 PF/46 PA) is coming off a 51-6 thumping of the Strathcona Lords (2-3-1) last week.
Jacob King was 11-for-15 passing for 175 yards and TDs of 33 and 28 yards to Roka Phelan-Baker, 10 yards to Ty Bates and five yards to Will Mah.
King also led the team in rushing yards with 122.
The ground game generated TDs by Daniel Mercado (five yards), Aidan Purdon (two yards) and Dylan Cabral (10 yards).
Purdon converted the scores and Paul Kane also recorded a safety.
The defensive unit coached by Rick Dorn was stout as usual.
