skip navigation
Home Bulldogs Staff Registration Team Schedules Bulldogs Calendar DAWGS Store

CAUGHT WITH THE BALL – Kit Liske of the Bellerose Bulldogs is tracked down by the Austin O'Brien Crusaders in last month's Carr division one game at Riel Recreation Park. The Bulldogs won 24-14. The teams will huddle in Friday's opening playoff round in t

Bulldogs limp into playoffs

10/22/2014, 9:15am MDT
By Jeff Hansen - St. Albert Gazette

Bellerose football team winless in two games after kicking off the Carr division one season with five victories

The Bellerose Bulldogs stand at the crossroads with their season hanging in the balance.

A victory in Friday’s playoff against the Austin O’Brien Crusaders would propel the Bulldogs into the semifinals but a loss would be the third in a row after going 5-0 to kick off the metro Edmonton football campaign.

The Carr division one tilt starts at 5 p.m. at Clarke Park and admission is $5.

“We’re kind of blessed to still have the opportunity to win a championship after losing our last two games going into the playoffs,” said Nick Cowan, a prolific Grade 12 linebacker and kicker, prior to Monday’s practice.

The Bulldogs finished in a three-way tie for second spot after falling 21-0 to the Bev Facey Falcons (6-1) in last week’s first-place showdown in Sherwood Park.

“Losing a close game like that to Facey was tough,” said Grade 12 centre Ethan Findlay. “We had a huge talk as a team during film on Friday and I think that things are going to turn around for the better.”

With an opening playoff round bye on the line the Bulldogs hung tough with Facey until the home team returned a fumble 37 yards into the endzone in the second quarter and before halftime made it 14-0 with a 14-yard TD run. A one-yard TD burst early in the third quarter closed out the scoring.

Morgan Sherban and Trace Stuht were a combined 2-for-14 passing for eight yards and one interception.

On the ground the Bulldogs gained 147 yards on 39 carries. Sherban led the way with 89 yards on 17 runs.

“Against Bev Facey, I think we won the first half but the second half we just mentally fell apart,” said Cowan, who shared the team lead in tackles with Mike Woywitka at five apiece. “Defence showed up strong and battled and forced many two and outs but the offence struggled mentally,”

The previous week the Bulldogs suffered a 23-6 setback to the Harry Ainlay Titans (5-2) in their homecoming game at Foote Field. It was pretty much all downhill for the Bulldogs after Ainlay recovered its opening kickoff. It was 21-0 at halftime on three TD runs from inside the five.

In the fourth quarter Stuht hit Maverick Delmas for a five-yard TD reception.

The Bulldogs were held to only 10 rushing yards on 24 carries and the passing attack was 9-for-16 for 89 yards and three interceptions.

“Against Harry Ainlay we were flat just the whole game,” said Cowan, who was credited with six tackles, one more than Woywitka and Seth Waselenchuk.

Findlay noted there were similarities in both losses.

“We came out guns firing against Bev Facey but we ended off just the same way as we did against Harry Ainlay. We were getting outmatched physically, outmatched mentally and we just need to be consistent throughout the entire game and not let little things like an interception or a huge gain against the defence get into our heads,” said the five-foot-nine, 260-pound lineman.

“Those are two games we should’ve won. We just didn’t show up mentally,” Cowan added.

The Bulldogs haven’t been the same team after almost gassing a 41-21 lead with under five minutes to play against the Spruce Grove Panthers (1-5-1). It was 31-13 after three quarters before panic set in and the outcome wasn’t decided until the last play of the game by the Panthers, as the Bulldogs hung on for the 41-35 decision for their fifth straight win. A closed-door players’ meeting after the game lasted longer than the tedious fourth quarter.

“Losing two in a row is quite humbling. After the Harry Ainlay game I don’t think people really learned their lesson and after almost losing to Spruce Grove I don’t think people learned their lesson from that either,” Findlay said.

But now it’s a new season for the team of players from Bellerose and Sturgeon high schools.

“It’s good in a way that we can come back in the playoffs and just sneak in as a team not many people are going to look at,” Cowan said of the Bulldogs, slotted ninth in the Tier I (1,250-plus students) Football Alberta rankings.

Tough opponent

AOB, the three-time reigning Tier II (750 to 1,249 students) Alberta Bowl champion, is no pushover despite placing sixth out of eight teams at 2-5.

“They’re a very good team and not one we want to take lightly. We just have to make sure we’re prepared for them,” Findlay said.

Cowan, 17, is expecting a physical bout against the No. 8-ranked Tier II team in the Football Alberta top 10.

“AOB always comes out and punches us in the mouth so we have to come out and punch them right back in the mouth when they hit us,” said the six-foot-five, 180-pound Bulldog, ranked second in the Carr in tackles with 49 after seven games.

Last month the Bulldogs rallied from a 14-8 deficit in the third quarter to knock off AOB 24-14 on Seniors Night at Riel Recreation Park. Tyler Feltis and Sherban combined for 339 of the team’s 341 rushing yards. Feltis was a man possessed while racking up 237 yards on 22 carries for two TDs. Feltis leads all Carr rushers in carries with 104 and is second in yards with 906.

“There were quite a few mental errors in that game and we’ve got to fix those,” Cowan said. “The big thing is we’ve got to go in thinking we’ve never beat them. We’ve got to fight and scratch and claw for every inch against them.”

Findlay, 17, stressed the Bulldogs have to put the win against AOB behind them in order to advance into the next round.

“If we focus on that then we’re going to get too cocky and that’s what happened the last two games. We came in thinking that the win is just going to be ours for the taking and if we come in thinking AOB will be a walk in the park it will not be good for us,” said one of 10 Bulldogs who tasted defeat for the first time in high school football this year after winning consecutive metro junior division one championships with the undefeated Dawgs.

Friday’s winner will huddle up against Ainlay in next Thursday’s semifinal at 7:30 p.m. at Clarke Park.

Tag(s): Home