RAYMOND - Holy Trinity Academy Knight head coach Matt Hassett was stumped by one of his player’s question after winning the school’s first high school provincial championship on Friday.
“Hey coach, how big is that finger for that new ring?”
Hassett and the Knights will be fitted with championship rings after scoring five unanswered touchdowns to down Edmonton's Austin O’Brien Crusaders 35-3 in the Tier II provincial high school football final Nov. 22 at Comet Stadium in Raymond.
“This is great – we have a great group of coaches, the kids have really bought in to what we are doing, it’s amazing,” said Hassett, the Knights head coach for more than 20 years, starting when HTA played Tier IV, for schools with an enrolment of less than 449.
The Knights won their first title without arguably their MVP slotback/punter/DB Noah Gutek who sat it out after suffering a concussion in HTA’s semifinal win over the Bert Church Chargers on Nov. 16.
“It was a bummer – Noah’s an absolute stellar player,” Knights QB Ben Leggett said. “We used it as a catalyst. Noah supported us all week, helping the young guys. We tried not to have let us down, we’re disappointed for him, but it was a catalyst for us."
However, it was the Crusaders who set the early pace in the opening quarter. AOB methodically moved the ball down the field and after an eight-yard bootleg by Crusader QB Samuel Kolkman they were knocking on the door with a first-and-goal from the three.
The HTA’s bend-but-don’t break defence became the bend-and-break-the-hearts of the Crusaders' hopeful.
HTA lineman Andrew Rowan and linebacker Grady Hale dropped Crusader runningback Rajae Powell for a seven-yard loss which was followed by another huge loss at the hands of Knights linebacker Michael Peloso.
The Crusaders settled for a 28-yard-field goal to take the lead after the first quarter.
“That was a huge stop to make them kick a field goal,” Hassett said. “As soon as our guys got off, I said 'that is going to matter.' We just got stronger and stronger.
“No team has run on us consistently all year, you’re not going to make a living at it.
“I think we have the best linebackers in the province with Michael Peloso, Jack Dutton and Grady Hale.”
Peloso said it was jitters along with the Crusaders’ strong running game that led to the opening points.
“I thought once that series was done we would be okay,” Peloso said. “We just turned it on after that. The defence did its job. We watched a ton of film, we out physicalled them and we owned the line.
“They couldn’t run on us.”
And as it turns out the Knights' offence is darn good too.
The Knights took the ensuing kickoff and after a pass from Leggett to Jack Gutek to get them out of a hole, the march was on.
HTA would take the lead for good when Peloso, now on the offensive side off the ball at runningback, cut outside and worked his way in for a 14-yard major to put the Knights up 7-3 early in the second quarter.
They never looked back.
Peloso would make it 14-3 on a seven-yard run on the Knights’ next possession
“Great blocking,” Peloso said. “I was able to break a couple of tackles, a stiff arm and I had those two TDs.”
Then the D struck. Dutton forced a fumble on AOB’s next drive which was scooped up by Peloso at the Crusaders 23 yard-line.
The Knights took advantage as Leggett hit receiver Ewan Fuhr with a perfect pass in a stiff cross-wind for a 19-yard TD to put HTA ahead 21-3 with two minutes left in the half.
There was no way the Knights D was going to let this one get away.
The Crusaders were held to negative yardage in the third quarter.
AOB showed life after recovering an HTA fumble on the Crusader 50-yard line. However, after some penalties and a huge sack by defensive end Alex Leggett, the Crusaders were facing a third-and-38.
Alex Leggett, who is University of Saskatchewan bound, had three sacks in the game. Rowan also dropped the Crusaders QB for a loss.
The Knights would make it 28-3 early in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard run by QB Ben Leggett who looked to pass and then tucked in for the major with 11:33 in the game.
“This is the most I have taken off out of the pocket all year, but there were a lot of set running plays,” Ben Leggett said. “I just had to take what the defence gave us, if the lane is there I got to take it.”
He said the offensive line provided the holes and protection to guide the Knights’ attack.
The drive was highlighted by a gutsy 3-and-7 gamble by the Knights at midfield. Hassett’s riverboat gamble paid off when runningback Brad Lojstrup somehow found a hole for about a 7-½ yard gain to keep the drive alive.
HTA would round out the scoring on a one-yard run by Ben Leggett just after the three-minute warning to make the final 35-3.
It was the Knights’ first provincial championship after coming up just short against the Crusaders in 2011 in Lethbridge and to the Lloydminster Barons in the final last season in Fort McMurray.
“All this really started last year and we were watching them get their gold medals,” Hassett said.
“And Ben said: ‘‘We’re getting back to this game and we’re winning.”
