Bellerose Bulldogs Football

The Battle of St. Albert is a statement game for the Bellerose Bulldogs.

A victory over the Paul Kane Blues would help solidify a playoff berth for the Bulldogs in the tight Carr division one standings.

The Friday Night Lights festivities kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Riel Recreation Park and admission is $5.

“It would be a big boost for us,” Grade 12 middle linebacker Drew Morison told the Gazette at Monday’s practice. “It’s going to be a big game. We’re all excited for it and we’re just trying to get everything down right at practice.”

The Bulldogs are undefeated in their last three games at 3-1 and the Blues are 2-1.

“We just want to have our best practices of the year this week. We want to go out and look good and win,” said Grade 12 receiver Corbin Stewart. “It’s definitely a high-tension game. Bragging rights are definitely on the line. We’ve just got to play how we play and I think we’ll be fine.”

The only Bulldogs versus Blues showdown in metro Edmonton senior football was 2012, 26-6 for Bellerose in the second year for the Paul Kane football program after serving as a feeder school for the St. Albert Catholic High School football team.

At the junior level, the fifth annual Battle of St. Albert between the Bulldogs and Blues was staged Tuesday, but the score was unavailable at press time.

The Blues won the first junior grudge match in 2011 and the Bulldogs were victorious in the next three gridiron confrontations.

“It’s a cross-town rivalry, PK versus Bellerose, so it’s definitely on our mind,” Stewart said. “The nerves are a little high but we’re still looking at it like it’s another game on the schedule.”

It’s expected the fan turnout will surpass previous standing-room only crowds that witnessed previous clashes between the Bulldogs and St. Albert High Skyhawks, when it was the most heated high school sports rivalry in St. Albert.

“It’s going to be an electric kind of atmosphere. There is going to be a lot of people there, a lot of friends and a lot of family. It’s just going to be really cool,” Morison said.

Friendships between players on both teams will resume after the Big Game.

“We can’t really be friends with them right now. After this week is over everything will get back to normal but we just can’t be too close to them,” Morison said.

The Football Alberta rankings list the Bulldogs at No. 4 in Tier I (1,250-plus students) and the Blues are No. 2 in Tier II (750 to 1,249 students).

Last week the Bulldogs rattled the No. 7-ranked Tier I Salisbury Sabres (1-1-1) 25-7 in Sherwood Park and the Blues buried the winless Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds 44-7 in St. Albert.

The Bulldogs are rolling at a pretty good clip after a disturbing 27-7 loss to the No. 9-ranked Tier I Harry Ainlay Titans (2-2) in the season opener in St. Albert.

“We started to make plays. We also stopped playing as individuals and started playing as a team,” Morison said.

“Our defence has really stepped up. They stopped the Sabres to seven points, which is pretty good,” added Stewart. “On offence we’ve been clicking lately. We’ve just got to up the tempo against PK.”

The Bulldogs are led offensively by Grade 12 quarterback Morgan Sherban, who has completed 51 out of 82 passes for 654 yards and six touchdowns and leads the team in rushing with 276 yards on 39 carries.

“Morgan is one of the best QBs in the league, no doubt about it. He can throw the ball all over the field and it’s not to one receiver particularly. We’re all involved in the passing game and it’s turned out well for us,” said Stewart, who has caught 12 passes for 171 yards and a team-high three TDs while splitting time at slotback and wideout.

Jaedon Carroll is the top pass catcher with 128 yards on 16 catches and Eric Calkins has 12 grabs for 171 yards.

But how the defence does against the explosive Paul Kane offence will determine the Bulldogs’ fate. The Blues like to gamble on third down no matter where the ball is and they have the weapons to move the chains with Grade 12 quarterback Brendan Guy running the show. Tanner Buchanan, Keaton Zaychkowsky, Aidan Mueller, Matt Schaaf and Ty Beck have the potential to score every time they touch the ball.

“We know they’re an aerial team so we’ve just got to watch out for Brendan Guy’s arm and other than that we’ve got to stay true to ourselves and just stick with it,” said Morison, a pint-size Bulldog and team leader in tackles with 27.

The Blues almost pulled off the upset of the season in the 50-40 loss to the No. 3-ranked Tier I Bev Facey Falcons (3-0) but a pick-six with only seconds remaining sealed the deal for the perennial Carr champions.

“PK is a very good team – offence, defence and special teams. We’ve just got to go out and do what we do,” said Stewart, 17, a second-year senior Bulldog.

The Bulldogs were at their best in week two of the schedule in beating the Austin O’Brien Crusaders (1-3), an unranked Tier II team, 38-8.

“Morgan was throwing balls on the dime and the defence really stepped up. It was just an all around good game for us,” said Morison, 17, a first-year senior Bulldog.

Against the Sabres the Bulldogs led 12-7 at halftime on Sherban’s two-yard QB sneak and Terell Peters returned a fumble 40 yards to pay dirt for the team’s first defensive TD of the season.

Peters and Logan Moreau recorded second-half interceptions and Colten Meronyk and Darryl Broderick scored TDs of 30 and two yards, respectively. Broderick’s major was set up by his 50-yard catch and run.

Carroll led the Bulldogs with a handful of catches and Meronyk rushed for more than 100 yards.