Bellerose Bulldogs Football

Clarke Park - The season ended sooner than expected for the Bellerose Bulldogs.

The No. 8-ranked Tier I team in Alberta lost 28-8 to the St. Albert High Skyhawks in Tuesday's Carr conference semifinal in metro Edmonton high school football.

“It’s a really tough loss,” said a glum-looking Chad Hill, head coach of the 6-3 Bulldogs. “Definitely this is not the ending that we were hoping for, not by any stretch of the imagination.”

All-star quarterback Keith Zyla fired four touchdown passes, including three strikes in the second quarter, as the Skyhawks stormed into a 21-8 halftime lead.

“We got beat on some big plays early and we couldn’t recover from it,” said Ben Graunke, the Grade 12 Bellerose tailback and safety. “They made the big plays and we didn’t make them.”

In the first quarter, junior call-up Ryan Shorten picked off Zyla at the Bellerose 45 on the Skyhawks’ first offensive series but the Bulldogs failed to capitalize on the turnover.

The next time on offence, Bellerose quarterback Josh Dobbins hooked up with Liam Gray for a 69-yard catch and run down the middle of the field to the Skyhawks’ 13. Three plays later, Connor Hughes missed the uprights on a 16-yard field goal attempt and the Bulldogs settled for a point with 3:37 left until quarter time.

On the next Skyhawks’ possession, Zyla was stopped inches short on third and two just in front of the Bellerose 54 with Graunke leading the defensive charge. The Bulldogs went two and out and punted as the first quarter drew to a close.

Back on offence, the Skyhawks turned a second and 18 situation into a 61-yard TD reception by Rocky Borrelli. After the catch, Borrelli escaped a tackle and galloped several yards into the endzone with 1:33 gone in the second quarter. The convert was good.

After Tyler Thorsley’s kickoff return to the Bellerose 45, the Bulldogs put first downs together as Graunke scampered 16 yards on third and one and Dobbins hit Gray for a 36-yard catch and run to the nine. On first down, Graunke busted through the Skyhawks for his 13th TD of the season. The convert put the Bulldogs on top by one.

The next offensive series for the Skyhawks, on second and eight, Zyla aired the ball out to Chandler Duff behind coverage and the underrated receiver was chased down at the Bellerose 25 after a 48-yard gain.

Three plays later, the Skyhawks knotted the score with a point off a tackle in the endzone on Max Chabot’s 27-yard field goal attempt with 4:33 left in the first half.

After the teams exchanged punts, the Skyhawks stopped Graunke on third and two at the Bellerose 48 with Matt Clark in on the tackle. The Skyhawks cashed in the turnover on downs as Zyla unleashed a great throw and Duff made an equally exceptional catch in double coverage for a 22-yard TD with 35 seconds to go in the half. The convert made it 15-8.

Play of the game

On first down after the kickoff, Brendan Cunningham intercepted a Dobbins’ pass near the sideline at the Bellerose 52. The Skyhawks converted the turnover into the TSN turning point. After a roughing-the-passer flag on Bellerose, Borrelli reeled in Zyla’s offering while double-teamed in front of the goal line, then slipped into the endzone to score with four seconds left in the half. The convert attempt was unsuccessful.

The Bulldogs never recovered from the momentum-shifting 47-yard TD.

“The one at the end of the half really hurt,” Graunke said. “It was really three plays that beat us.”

Hill viewed the roughing the passer call as iffy, but stressed the Bulldogs never should have let Borrelli make the TD catch.

“They got one more shot at throwing it deep on roughing the passer and that’s a tough one but the call was made, “ Hill said. “The thing was we were in a cover four, so we had four guys deep, but their receiver made the play on the ball over our DBs. We knew Keith was going to try and air it out deep and they executed.”

The Bulldogs were done like dinner when Thera-Plamondon broke loose on a catch and run for a 54-yard TD with 53 seconds remaining in the third quarter

“Give credit where credit is due; that Hawks' defence swarmed to the ball and played exceptional well and their offence really hit the big plays. Their aerial attack was very solid. Simply put, Keith is a tremendous quarterback,” Hill said. “They have a very good offence. They executed well. Those receivers made some tremendous plays tonight. They stepped up big, in particular Chandler Duff. He had the game of his life and I told him that after the game.”

“Thera is Thera and Rocky is Rocky. We know those guys are playmakers and they’re going to make plays and they did.

“Matti Thurlin was also back in the line-up and he gave them a spark as an added threat and another dimension to their offence in the backfield.”

Disappointing ending

The loss was the second of the year against the Skyhawks (7-2). The Tier III provincial contenders rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to edge Bellerose 14-13 in September.

The Bulldogs viewed the 11th annual Battle of St. Albert – the first playoff clash between the cross-town rivals since the 2004 Miles conference semifinal, a 39-3 Skyhawsk win – as another credibility game in pursuit of their first metro championship since winning the Miles title in 2007.

“It’s very disappointing,” Hill said. “I would’ve liked to have done some things differently. Unfortunately we don’t get to do things differently until next year."

The Bulldogs were ranked top-10 for five straight weeks in the Football Alberta poll, the first time they were ranked top-10 since 1999.

“It was a bounce-back season for us. In 2010 we were a strong team and in 2011 we had a bit of a dip (2-5 record) but we got back up to being a respective team in the Carr conference this year,” Hill said. “I’m very proud of our team this year.”

Half of the Bulldogs will be back next year. Graunke, a third-year Bulldog, was sad to see it end.

“It’s really hard to believe it’s all over now,” he said. “This season was special. It’s the best season I've ever had in football.”

Graunke, 17, led the conference in carries with 138 and was second in rushing yards with 1,162.

“It’s a team effort. They’re not all my rushing yards. They’re the offence’s rushing yards,” said Graunke, who also ranked second on the team in tackles with 32.