Passing combo ignites HTA in Okotoks rivalry game

Run and then just go.  

Holy Trinity Academy Knight quarterback Ryan Petersen and slotback Chris McLarty teamed up with two second-quarter pass receptions for approximately 140 yards and a TD as HTA took a 22-0 lead at halftime en route to beating their cross-town rival, the Foothills Falcons, 38-0 Friday night at Falcons field on Sept. 24.  

“We felt Foothills would cheat their cornerback a little bit on Michael (Knights runningback Michael Eagle Bear) and rightfully so he’s a great talent,” Knights coach Matt Hassett said. “That left Chris the opportunity.

"This is the first time Chris has played tackle football. He’s a great athlete. Like a lot of our guys, they are great athletes and their football IQs are going to get better."

The combo connected on a 77-yard catch and run TD when McLarty streaked by the Falcons secondary and hauled in a pinpoint pass from Petersen, then ran into the end zone for a 14-0 lead with six minutes left in the first half. 

“It was a perfect ball by Ryan, I just had to sprint to get under it and once I caught it I was gone,” McLarty said. “I was running a ‘go’ just sprint past the defender.” 

It was the first pass of the game for the Knights. And there was no reason to fool with success. The Knights went to the McLarty well one more time before the half.  

Petersen hit a sprinting McLarty for a 56-yard catch and run late in the half.

Too bad for him he needed 57 yards to get to the end zone. 

“After that (first catch) coach realized we had them beat in speed,” McLarty said. “We ran the same pattern, the ball was a little bit under-thrown and sadly I got tackled at the one.” 

He’s not used to being tackled. The Grade 11 student is in his first year of tackle football. He played flag football with the St. John Paul II Collegiate Crusaders in Grade 9 two years ago.  

Petersen more than got the job done on the slightly under-thrown ball – it was a toss of at least 35 yards in the air.  

In fact, he did get the job done. Petersen ran it in from the one-yard line on the next play to make it 21-0.  

The strong-legged Gabriel Marquardt made it 22-0 when he kicked the ensuing kickoff into the end zone for the single.  

The Knights salted the game away on the opening play of the second half when the Falcons got clawed by an old friend. 

Eagle Bear, a former Falcon, took the opening kickoff at the 10-yard line of the southeast corner of the field and didn’t stop until 100 yards later, with a TD in the northwest corner. 

“It was an amazing feeling,” Eagle Bear said. “I don’t want to take too much of the credit. A lot of my teammates did really good blocks. I didn’t have to do so much.” 

He had to do some running – crisscrossing the entire field to get to paydirt. 

“It was a little bit of running,” he said with a laugh. “It helped set the tempo for the second half.”  

The Knights would up their lead to 35-0 when receiver Chris Peloso made a fingertip catch on a nine-yard bullet from Petersen late in the third quarter.  

The TD came after the Knights drive had initially stalled and Marquardt was forced to punt from the Knights 52. After bobbling a quasi-low snap, Marquardt ran 28 yards to the Foothills 30 to keep the drive alive.  

Marquardt, who was perfect on all four converts after HTA majors, rounded out the scoring with a 39-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.  

HTA’s first major came in the second quarter after Marcus Abrenica picked off a pass on a halfback option on the Falcons 11 and ran the ball down to the one.  

Knights runningback Ashton Ramsay then took it in to give the Knights the 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.  

The loss was another lesson for the young Falcons.  

“We talked after the game, it’s all about learning and that is a little tough after a loss like this,” said Falcons coach Nathan St. Dennis. “This is for our Grade 10 and 11 players their first Blackout game – playing their first game against the cross-town rivals.  

“We have 35 Grade 10s playing on this team and  a lot of them playing football right now.” 

For Grade 12 Falcon Trey Peacock, a defensive back/slotback, it was a tough loss, but he’s proud of the young squad.  

“It means a lot for me to play in this game – a lot of tradition,” Peacock said. “I feel like even though we didn’t win, we have a lot of potential. A lot of Grade 10 and 11s – seeing them work together. I like it.”.

The future also looks bright for the Knights. They started two seniors on offence and three on defence against Foothills. 

 The Falcons dropped to 0-3 and their next game is against the Medicine Hat Hawks Oct. 1 in the Hat.  

The Knights improved to 3-2 and they are presently ranked no. 7 in the Tier II provincial rankings, up from nine last week.  They have a bye next week before travelling to take on the Catholic Central Cougars on Oct. 8.