The Holy Trinity Knights are way too young to have the Mel and Tim from 1969 in their Ipods. However, listening to their one-hit from 1969, “Backfield in Motion, I’m gonna have to penalize you…” would have done them a world of good in their exhibition football game in San Francisco on Aug. 27.
The Knights were beaten 34-14 by the Vacaville Christian Falcons in San Francisco in a U.S. style football game.
“It was pretty close for a long time, it was only 6-0 for them in the third quarter,” Knights coach Matt Hassett said. “We made a lot of mistakes with motion. In the U.S. you can only have one guy going in motion and that has to be backwards or lateral.
“In Canada ours in unlimited. We had a lot of penalties that killed big plays.”
The Knights went down to ‘Frisco as part of a learning experience both on and off the field.
“We played well and they had twice as many practices as we have had,” Hassett said. “There was a good enthusiastic crowd. It was a good trip.”
There’s nothing like a warm San Francisco night to boost the optimism of a Canadian high school football coach before what he hopes is a long season going deep into November.
“I was happy with how we played,” Hassett said. “Ryan (Hassler) played very well at quarterback.”
Hassett said the Falcons coach had high praise for Knights linebacker Jadon Schneider, Hassler, running back Ryder Stone, and defensive back Brandon Bellman,
That’s not too surprising. They are veteran Knights and are the meat and potatoes of the team.
However, the Knights didn’t bring their full team to Frisco. Grade 12 students linebacker/receiver Peter Hillman, receiver James Read and running back Reid Watkins didn’t make the trip because of rugby and wrestling commitments.
Bellman said the Knights did have trouble with the different motion in the United States, but he believes Holy Trinity Academy Knights played.
“It was great to go down there and play an American team,” Bellman said.
Bellman said one of the highlights of the trip was attending mass at Old St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral which was built a few years after the gold rush of 1949 (hence the San Francisco 49ers). They also visited the preseason camp of the Oakland Raiders, where the Knights received an inspirational speech from NFL hall-of- famer Rod Woodson.
“He told us how important his faith and God was in his life,” Bellman said.
The Knights play Peace River High School this Saturday in Edmonton. Their first home game is Sept. 9 at Holy Trinity Academy against the Centennial Coyotes.
