The Tier II provincial football crown is coming back to Okotoks.
The No. 1 ranked Holy Trinity Academy Knights overpowered the third-ranked Austin O’Brien Crusaders 57-14 on the strength of a 48-point first half to secure the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association Tier II high school football title Nov. 26 at Calgary’s Hellard Field, one year after a heartbreaking runner-up finish for the Okotoks school.
“Losing last year it hit a lot of us,” said Knights Grade 12 defensive back Tyson Sopp. “We’ve been working hard since January to get back here and win this one.
“That means so much, it just shows that all the hard work paid off.
“We always talked about how we’ve been here before, we know how to do it and they’ve never been here.”
The Crusaders set the tone on their first drive with a picture perfect play-action pass from quarterback Blake Howells to receiver Joshuwa Modjani from 40 yards out to open the scoring.
“Sometimes that’s happened with us where we’ve given up way too many yards on the first series,” said HTA head coach Matt Hassett. “It’s kind of like we’re figuring them out and then the guys just settled down and started playing football.”
The Crusaders momentum would prove short lived.
HTA answered immediately on the next drive with a steady diet of running back Seth Poelzer moving the chains and the Grade 10 tailback finishing the drive with a goalline touchdown run.
“I think that was a real wake-up call that we’re here in a provincial final,” said HTA Grade 12 quarterback Ryan Petersen. “It was awesome to see how we responded to that and just knowing that we’re not losing this time.
“Last year we lost and this time we were winning this game.”
Chris McLarty then gave HTA the lead on an 80-yard punt return touchdown, tip toeing down the sidelines and speeding into the end zone in what was a harbinger of things to come from the fleet-footed receiver.
“We saw that they were an awesome matchup against St. Joe’s and came out guns blazing, we know we needed to,” said McLarty. “Everyone was executing, on the gas pedal all game. We were able to go stride for stride with them at the start and broke it open throughout the game.”
The Knights added to the advantage early in the second quarter with receiver Thomas Rodehutskors following his blocks for a 23-yard touchdown run.
“AOB is a very strong team coming in and we just wanted it more obviously,” said Petersen. “They were running their 4-3 (defence) and we expected that so we started running the ball down their throat and once they started to come up, we just threw it over top.”
HTA’s defence continued to put the offence in good field position with defensive back Ethan MacKesey corralling an interception on a tipped play. On the ensuing drive, quarterback Ryan Petersen connected with Chris Peloso in the slot for a short-yardage major.
Sopp added two more interceptions late in the half, both of which led directly to offensive touchdowns.
“We thought we could just play our base defence because they run a bit of everything and my job was to stay overtop and wait for reads,” said Sopp, who was sidelined with an injury for the past month of action. “The quarterback eyes up his targets so just read the quarterback and you’ll make the play.
“I’ve missed a couple games this season from injury and it’s just crazy to be out there, it meant so much.”
From the turnovers, the Knights offence added to the onslaught.
First, Poelzer showcased his pass catching ability, with a 55-yard catch and run touchdown. Petersen then connected with McLarty for a 25-yard over the shoulder catch in the back of the end-zone.
McLarty added his third major of the half on a goalline run up the gut to give HTA a commanding 48-7 lead at the half.
“The offence could do what they wanted most of the day,” Hassett said. “It’s kudos to the O-line and everybody. They really played their hearts out today.”
In the second half, McLarty would make it four touchdowns in the final with a 55-yard outside run on HTA’s first drive. A safety on a botched punt by the Crusaders increased the lead to 57-7.
“Offence got to play almost the whole game,” said McLarty, giving a shout out to the defensive unit. “They gave us two-and-outs all the time and the defence really clutched up.”
From there, HTA was able to rotate in different players and give a large amount of the squad the experience of playing in a championship game.
“We said we’re going to start with the starters and start well and then we’ll start changing things up,” Hassett said. “And just get as many kids as we can that experience, so it was good that way that we were able to do that.
“The guys just played really well all day.”
With the result well in hand, the game ended on a sour note on the final play from scrimmage.
The Crusaders were in the red-zone looking to add a late major when HTA defensive end Nickolas Demedeiros was badly injured on an illegal block.
The Grade 12 player was taken away in an ambulance which coach Hassett said was a precautionary measure, adding the lineman did have movement in his extremities.
“We’ve played together for three years and it’s protect the guy beside you,” Petersen said. “Unfortunately, Nick got hurt the last play, but he will be OK and prayers with him.
“It was a dirty play, it is what it is, Nick will come back and we will size him up for a ring.”
The championship is the second in the history of the Knights, adding to their 2019 title.
It’s also the second time the team has rebounded from a loss in a provincial final and come back the next year to win it all.
“I personally felt a lot of pressure just because we were ranked No. 1 in Alberta and Canada all year,” said Hassett. “It’s my son (defensive end Adam Hassett)’s senior year so that was pretty special for me.
“Winning that first championship was nice because we finally did after so many years and then to be able to do it again with my boy on the field and starting, it’s a dream come true and one of the highlights of my coaching career, for sure.”