All the pieces are in place for a championship season by the St. Albert High Skyhawks in high school football.
The 2018 finalists in the division two Miles conference of the metro Edmonton league and Tier III north provincials graduated only three players from the team that won eight out of 11 games.
“We’ve got a lot of experience and we’ve got a lot athletes,” said head coach Sam Johnson at Wednesday’s training camp at St. Albert Catholic High School. “The boys are excited, the girls are excited and we want to put together a good year for everybody.”
The Skyhawks are building off last year’s momentum as the first SACHS team to reach the Miles’ final since 2015 and the north final was the sixth in seven Tier III (450 to 749 student population) provincial playoffs since 2011.
“It brought us all together as a team and it really improved morale,” said Jared Granoski, a hard-hitting Grade 11 linebacker. “We had a few bad games for sure, but that was just a learning opportunity and I really think that brought the potential for this year.”
The last time the Skyhawks competed in the Alberta Bowl Tier III championship game was 2012 as silver medallists.
“We have the potential to go all the way this year and it hasn’t happened in a long time at SACHS and it's really exciting to have that opportunity to win it all for our school, our city, for everyone,” Granoski said.
The last four Tier III north finals ended with losses to the Holy Rosary Raiders of Lloydminster and last year’s 38-18 defeat at Larry Olexiuk Field was also the first home-field setback of the season after eight victories.
“Instead of it being a negative we used it as a positive. It's just motivation to do better next time and we will for sure,” Granoski said.
“The thing that excites me is they’re excited about it. They want to get there. They are the ones going, ‘Geez, I hope we get another shot at them,'” Johnson added. “However, things are different this year with the structure of the Miles. We’ve got Sturgeon that’s a Tier III rep and Beaumont that’s a Tier III rep so we have to take care of business in the regular season just to get to provincials this year (as the metro league’s Tier III team in the north playoffs).
Last year’s eight-team Miles is now a joint Miles/Gilfillan 13-team league divided into two pools with the top finishers advancing into the Miles’ playoffs and the rest of the teams compete for the division three Gilfillan championship.
Pool A consists of the Skyhawks, Paul Kane Blues, Sturgeon Spirits, the 2018 Gilfillan finalists as a first-year football team, Beaumont Bandits, another Gilfillan team, Strathcona Lords, who played in the division one Carr conference, McNally Tigers and O’Leary Spartans, who handed the Skyhawks their lone loss in league play.
Pool B features the Archbishop Jordan Scots, 27-12 winners against the Skyhawks in the Miles’ final, Ardrossan Bisons (31-2 over Sturgeon for the Gilfillan championship), M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs, Leduc Tigers, St. Francis Xavier Rams and the unknown Lillian Osborne Legends.
A higher than expected interest by teams to play in the Miles reduced the ranks within the Gilfillan, comprised of six teams last year, and forced the metro league to revamp the two conferences into one to determine the Miles and Gilfillan playoff pairings.
“There are some teams in that 13 that are really going to get abused and there are some teams that maybe should be up a division, but the coaches kind of chose where they wanted to go and the league made the best of what I think is a difficult situation,” said Johnson, who is “not a big fan” of the revamped conferences and would prefer it remained the same as last year with separate Miles and Gilfillan teams.
“That would be best, not only for league but for player safety too because there is going to be some very good teams which I hope we are and there will be some teams that maybe should be down in that Gilfillan for the regular season," said the 2017 Metro Athletics Coach of the Year in the Miles. "The officials are now being put in a difficult spot, coaches are now put in a difficult spot, kids are put in difficult spots so I don’t think it's a great situation, but we have very little control over that so we're just going to line up and play."
The first of five out of six home games at Larry Olexiuk Field for the Skyhawks kicks off Sept. 6 against Beaumont in the league opener at 7:30 p.m., followed by the rivalry game against Paul Kane, a non-playoff team last year, Sept. 13 at 5 p.m.
Leading up to the regular season is Friday’s exhibition in California against the Aliso Niguel Wolverines, a Tier 9 high school team with a student population of 3,000 in Aliso Viejo, located about 25 miles outside of Anaheim.
“They look good, they look difficult, but we’re excited to play Friday Night Lights against them,” Johnson said of huddling up against Wolverines under American 11-man rules. “We’re going to play our hearts out and hopefully have a good result.”
The Skyhawks will also participate in the Aug. 31 jamboree hosted by Sturgeon in Fort Saskatchewan in the last tune-up before the season starts.
“We want to get going. We want to get playing right now,” Johnson said.
The Skyhawks are shaping up to be a handful to stop, especially with two-way standout Jackson Ganton healthy again after an injury cut short his MVP calibre Grade 11 campaign.
“We've got some talent so we're just trying not to screw them up as coaches as we try and get them in the right spots,” Johnson said.
Defensively, the Skyhawks are led by the powerful linebacking unit of Granoski, Evan Selzler, Matt Swecera and Matt Kocuiba.
“We’ve got some experience and athletic ability there,” said Johnson, who also welcomed Bellerose transfer student Luke Randhawa, who has defensive capabilities playing with the senior Bulldogs last year in Grade 11.
As for the team’s main strength, “It’s our bond together and how we play as a family. We’re all together as one,” said Granoski, 16, who plays the same inside linebacker position as his dad, Dave, of the legendary St. Albert Storm, the 1990 Carr champions and Tier I provincial finalists that finished 10-1 overall.
“He’s always been the number one coach for me. He's taught me everything,” said the ultra-aggressive Granoski, who also saw action at left tackle in Grade 10.
As for the best advice received from his dad, “Just be aware, keep your eyes moving and never be afraid,” Granoski said.
The projected 42-player roster in the preseason, which is expected to grow in numbers once school starts, includes about a dozen Grade 12s, plus four females split between dual roles as linebackers/running backs and receivers/defensive backs.
“We’re excited to have them, but more importantly the boys are excited to have them on the team. When we played a jamboree in the spring in Camrose and a player from another program tried to take some liberty with one of our female players we had 30 of our boys were ready to stand up for her,” Johnson said. “We’re not boys and girls out here anymore. We’re Skyhawks. We’re one family.”
