The football season is going to finish where it started with a 4A provincial title on the line.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights and St. Joseph’s Celtics will clash for the first time since kicking off the campaign in mid-August as the top two ranked teams battle for the Alberta Bowl 4A provincial championship on Nov. 23 in Grande Prairie.
“We have to be ready, they’re well-coached and they’re playing at home,” said Knights head coach Matt Hassett. “It’s unusual that you get to play (the final) in your hometown so I think they’ll be pretty jacked up for that experience.”
The final marks the fifth time in the past six seasons that HTA, the 2022 and 2019 champions, will play for the 4A provincial title while the Celtics are making their fifth appearance in the past 10 finals.
“There’s a lot of expectations in the province,” said Knights defensive end Ben Haden. “Being consistently one of the best teams makes us a big target, people are game-planning to beat us throughout the entire season.”
HTA took the season opener by a 41-7 count with over 400 rushing yards in the contest.
The Knights have been the top-ranked 4A team all season with St. Joseph’s sitting in the number-two hole.
“There’s certain teams that are always there in the end,” the coach added. “Your (Austin O’Brien) and St. Joe’s in the North and George Mac, Hat High in the South, you always have to keep your eye on them.
“We try to keep an eye on teams all year, see how they’re doing and try to get film on a regular basis, try to dissect it and make sure we put our kids in a good position to make plays.”
That was the case in Saturday’s South Final.
The Knights scored on the first play, a 100-yard opening kickoff return touchdown from fleet-footed returned Malik Robbins and didn’t look back in the 57-24 triumph over Airdrie’s George McDougall Mustangs at Shouldice Park.
“It was just a really good start and we maintained throughout the first half,” Hassett said. “And then started sprinkling in younger guys in the second half. The guys played really well.”
The special teams advantage continued to play out when Ben Gutek made it two kickoff return touchdowns with another 100-yard major.
Other first half highlights included a 75-yard receiving touchdown from quarterback Declan Lyth to slotback Cayden McCullough, a 49-yard Seth Poelzer rushing touchdown and another on the ground from an unlikely source.
Haden, a star defensive lineman, showcased his offensive acumen with his first major on offence since peewee on a 54-yard fake handoff and scamper into the end zone to complete the 54-point first half.
“It’s a play we’ve had in the playbook for a while since I was in Grade 10, but we’ve never really ran it,” Haden said. “It’s been circling around practice a bit and last year I started playing some guard and I was teasing or asking my OC (offensive coordinator Bill McConkey) to do it.
“We did it against Chinook and I got about eight yards and then we’ve been doing it in practice the last few weeks and it went pretty well. It was amazing, I had a celebration planned out and completely forgot it.”
In the North Final, the Celtics overpowered the Cold Lake Royals by a 44-26 score after eliminating the defending provincial champion Austin O’Brien Crusaders the week prior.
Haden, part of a large group of seniors who contributed to the provincial title in 2022, has fond memories of championship games in late-November.
“I just remember what it meant to the seniors when we were in Grade 10,” he said. “And to really give it our all to make that happen again.”
The Alberta Bowl will also feature the Harry Ainlay Titans versus the Raymond Comets in the 5A provincial final, Holy Rosary Raiders and Cochrane Cobras in the 3A championship, Peace River Pioneers and Ponoka Broncs in the 9-a-side final and J.C. Charyk Hawks versus Millwoods Christian Royals in the 6-a-side title match.
For more information, go to footballalberta.ab.ca.
