The Knights are just one game away from a return to the provincial final.
Holy Trinity Academy showcased its season long progression with a 35-18 road victory over the Medicine Hat Hawks on Nov. 13 to advance to the Football Alberta Tier II provincial semifinal.
“I’m really excited because opportunities like this don’t come around very often,” said Knights wide-receiver Chris McLarty. “We’re very lucky to play on a team like this, there’s great chemistry with all of the players.
“And it’s a great team filled with great athletes and, more importantly, great people and it’s exciting as we keep going on and on in provincial playoffs.”
Medicine Hat got past HTA by a 20-8 score in late-August in what was the opening week of action.
The Hawks saw a different version of the Knights on their home pitch.
“I think we just prepared more and it really helped having Michael (Eagle Bear) because he didn’t play in that first game,” said Knights defensive back Tyson Sopp. “And coach (Matt Hassett) said you can’t beat a great team twice and that was our mentality going into the game.”
Stopping the run was job number one for the visitors in keeping the Hawks’ offence grounded in the quarterfinal tilt.
“Our game-plan pretty much worked,” said Hassett. “We knew it was going to be a tough, physical game. They run the double-wing so if you take care of the lead and the jet, they just don’t have much else.
“If we got the lead and forced them to pass then we felt it was our game to win because that’s our strength.”
The Knights mixed their offensive attack with quarterback Ryan Petersen throwing for three touchdowns, running one in himself along with a major on the ground through Eagle Bear, who also had a receiving touchdown.
“A lot of teams will run to set up the pass and a lot of times it’s us passing that sets up the run,” the coach added. “The offence played really well and any time you’re able to get over 30 points on the board that’s a good thing.”
McLarty secured his first of two receiving touchdowns on the day late in the first-half with a leaping one-handed grab in double coverage on a 30-yard pass from Petersen.
“There was a fake to the runningback and Ryan rolled out to the right and there was good pass protection from the line,” McLarty said. “He threw the ball up and I couldn’t really see it and as I turned around I saw it come up, there was two defenders on me and I needed to go get the ball and that’s what I did.”
HTA, the No. 4 ranked team in the province, will now meet No. 9 ranked Lacombe in the semifinal after the Rams took out Calgary’s Our Lady of the Rockies.
“They’re still playing so they’re a pretty good team,” Hassett said of the Rams. “It looks like they’re very athletic, they beat Hunting Hills twice this year and they also beat Lindsay Thurber, which is Tier I, to win their league title for the first time in 30 years.
“It looks like they’re a power-running team, they run the wishbone and want to set up the pass off that and it looks like they have an athletic quarterback that can throw it deep.”
In the other semifinal, the top-ranked St. Joe’s Celtics will battle No. 3 ranked Leduc.
On the line is a trip to the provincial final at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on Nov. 26.
The Knights are the home team for the semifinal, slated for Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. at Shouldice Park.
