Bellerose Bulldogs Football

Two losses in two years to the Bellerose Bulldogs were too many for the St. Albert High Skyhawks.

And there was no way the Skyhawks were going to lose again to their bitter rivals in metro Edmonton high school football.

“We’ve waited two long years to get payback and it feels great. It’s better than Christmas,” said an overjoyed Brendan Thera-Plamondon of the Skyhawks after Thursday’s 14-13 thriller in front of a full house at Riel Recreation Park.

The eighth win in the 10th Battle of St. Albert was the most important triumph in Skyhawks’ history since capturing the Carr conference crown in 2000.

“They beat us for a couple of years and now the world is back where it should be. The moons are back in their orbits and the Skyhawks beat the Bulldogs again,” said Sam Johnson, head coach of the eighth-ranked provincial Tier III Skyhawks.

As the Skyhawks (1-2) celebrated like they had won the Grey Cup – including a choreographed post-game MC Hammer-inspired dance in front of their vocal fans – the Bulldogs (2-1) wept in silence.

“It’s a tough defeat but I’m proud of my team. We played hard. We played with sweat, blood and tears. We played as a team,” said Liam Gray, a Grade 12 Bulldog. “Not only is it one of the most upsetting games we’ve ever had, it will be the most exciting game of the season.”

The Bulldogs gassed a 13-point lead in the second half, as Skyhawks’ quarterback Keith Zyla connected first with Rocky Borrelli for an electrifying 65-yard catch-and run for a touchdown with 5:05 left in the third quarter, and then with Thera-Plamondon for a game-breaking 16-yard major with 4:40 to play. Borrelli’s go-ahead convert lit a fire under the Skyhawks supporters.

“We were in a great fight with St. Albert High tonight. I knew it was going to be a tough one right down to the end, just like the last couple of years. Unfortunately this year we came out on the short end of the stick,” said Bellerose head coach Chad Hill. “I give them full credit. They’re a very good team. Thera and Rocky and some of those athletes, they broke some tackles and wore us down a little bit. Their quarterback, Keith, made some plays. He is a heck of an athlete. He runs hard. I really like the way he plays.”

It was 5-0 Bellerose at halftime on Connor Hughes’ 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter and a safety by Zyla, who took a knee in the end zone on third down at the Skyhawks’ one with 4:43 left until the break.

“We came out strong, but after they scored those points we kind of got a little down and that’s where we made our mistakes. We really had to keep our heads up and keep playing the way we were in the first half,” said Gray, a two-way standout at slotback/tight-end and rush end.

The Bulldogs were lucky to escape the first half with the lead.

“We should’ve been up by three touchdowns in the first half. We were just half a step off from some big plays on their DBs, but to their credit they kicked a field goal and stopped us a couple of times,” Johnson said. “We just regrouped at half and said, 'You know what? We can do this. They’re not doing anything we can’t handle.’ We knew we could have some success because we've got some talented players.”

Missed opportunities left the Skyhawks scoreless at the half.

“We had some chances but we didn’t quite execute. It’s a good thing our defence battled hard to keep us in it,” said Thera-Plamondon, who also took a turn at quarterback in the first half. “When we did step up we got a couple of fumble recoveries and we just took it from there. It was momentum, momentum, moment.”

Second-half surge

The Bulldogs lost their mojo shortly after Ben Graunke’s one-yard TD plunge capped off a 76-yard drive and Hughes’ convert put Bellerose up by 12 with 6:19 to go in the third quarter. They added another point on the kickoff.

On the third play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff, Zyla swung the ball out to Borelli and the Grade 12 wideout raced past a stunned Bellerose bench to pay dirt. He also kicked the convert.

“Rocky scored a tremendous touchdown with all those blocks,” said Thera-Plamondon, 17.

In the final quarter it was Thera-Plamondon with a clutch grab in front of the goal line on first down at the Bellerose 16 that pulled the Skyhawks even against the reeling Bulldogs.

“I was lucky Keith saw me. He lobbed it up and I knew where the goal line was so I dove and caught it and got the ball across the plane and they called it touchdown,” said Thera-Plamondon. “It was game over right there. We knew we had it, we just had to execute.”

Back on offence, the Bulldogs drove the ball to the Skyhawks’ 27 on the strength of two third-and-short gambles converted by Graunke on the ground. On third and five, Hill elected to try a field goal but the attempt by Hughes was low and Thera-Plamondon successfully ran the ball out of the end zone.

“Had it been third and three or less we would’ve gone for it to try and get the first down,” Hill said. “Hughes didn’t make that one but he’s going to make some in the future. Unfortunately he feels terrible about it, but it’s his first time playing football. He’s been a real unsung guy. He stepped up from the junior team to kick for us. In practice he had a very solid couple of days kicking and his range was very good.

“What he has to know and what we will reiterate to him is it’s never on just the kicker to make the play. You win as a team, you lose as a team. We could’ve got that first down beforehand. We could’ve got some fumbles that were on the ground that we didn’t get. I could’ve made some different play calling to help us out better in the secondary especially. We all could’ve done a little bit more.”

The Skyhawks buckled down to contain Graunke, the only real offensive threat the Bulldogs had.

“They did a pretty good job on our run game,” Hill said.

A parade of penalties hurt both teams at inopportune times, especially the undisciplined Bulldogs who gave the Skyhawks pretty good field position on a number of calls.

“Maybe if we had cut those back we would’ve won the game,” said Gray, 17

Both teams also took turns fumbling away the ball.

“A couple of times the ball is on the turf and we didn’t end up with the ball,” Hill said. “We didn’t get as many bounces as perhaps we should’ve or could’ve but I’m sure that’s how they felt the last couple of years.”