Knight time arrived in dominant fashion on the provincial stage.
The top-ranked Holy Trinity Academy Knights captured their third provincial title in program history and third over the past five seasons with a 49-9 triumph over the No. 2 ranked St. Joseph’s Celtics amid frigid conditions in the Alberta Bowl 4A provincial final Saturday afternoon in Grande Prairie.
“The game conditions and what they were, they were tough and we wanted to really focus on pounding the football and giving it to our guys,” said Knights head coach Matt Hassett. “Seth (Poelzer) has been amazing for three years, never mind just this year, but we wanted our seniors to go out on top and they led the way and just performed really well.”
HTA, finalists in five of the past six playoffs held, started brilliantly.
Poelzer, who set the all-time Alberta Bowl record at any level with 391 yards rushing, scored on the first offensive play, taking a handoff in the backfield and darting into the end zone from 60 yards out.
The Knights recovered the ensuing kickoff at the 1-yard line with Ben Haden providing the pressure and Thomas Rowan securing the fumble recovery.
Poelzer then punched it from goalline formation as the Knights made it a 14-0 game just 57 seconds into the final.
“When we won when he was in Grade 10, (Seth) was a big part of that team as well, but now he’s one of the leaders of the team,” Hassett said. “He’s grown up, he’s matured, he’s worked so hard to be in the position that he is, and I look forward to watching him play in university.”
St. Joe’s, perennial provincial contenders and five-time finalists over the last decade, showed their pedigree with their first drive on offence.
Alex Hiemstra scampered in on a 53-yard touchdown run as the Celtics cut the lead in half in one fell swoop just 90 seconds into the first quarter.
Undaunted, the Knights celebrated a major once again late in the quarter with quarterback Declan Lyth finding a wide-open Ben Gutek in the end zone from 27 yards out to regain the 14-point advantage.
HTA scored again midway through the second quarter.
After a run heavy drive, Lyth found Haden, who was lined up as an extra blocker, on a five-yard play action pass with 6:18 left in the half.
The Knights continued to control the game on the ground with its imposing offensive line creating holes for Poelzer to make plays in the open field.
“Any time you’ve got a great back like that, you’ve got a have a great line in front of him to get the yards that he does,” Hassett added. “They did such a good job, even with some of the injuries we had, guys plugged in and took on roles late in the year, Lars Paulgaard, a Grade 10, starting at offensive line, a new position for him.”
The prolific tailback added his third running touchdown on a 20-yard scamper with 2:37 left in the quarter as HTA finished with 347 rushing in the first half.
Here’s some frames from the 4A Championship Final. Congratulations to the HTA Knights!
— Football Alberta (@FootballAlberta) November 24, 2024
🏈🏈#football #footballalberta #asaaprovs #highschoolfootball🏈 #albertabowl2024 #holytrinityacademyknights pic.twitter.com/jloPJ1GEs7
In the second half, HTA’s Jack Bjorge secured an interception to put an exclamation point on a strong afternoon of open field tackles and timely plays from the outside linebacker.
“Our defence played really well, it was kind of that bend but don’t break,” Hassett said. “That’s been our MO, that first drive we’re feeling the other team out and maybe playing a bit conservative and after that first drive relax and just start playing football.
“We expected them to come out strong, they’re at home playing in a provincial final and not many people get to experience that. It was a cool experience for their players.”
Poelzer scored on a 16-yard rush on third down to cap the ensuing drive for his fourth major of the match.
The Knights then went deep into the playbook with a wide receiver pass from Gutek to slotback Cayden McCullough for a 21-yard touchdown.
HTA, the No. 1 ranked team from start to finish at the 4A level, has now won provincial titles in 2024, 2022 and 2019.
Managing the weight of expectations is another hurdle the players cleared.
“They handled it really well, probably better than their coach some weeks,” Hassett said with a laugh. “I even felt the pressure from kind of a disappointing end to the year before, but that really focused them and they worked so hard during the off-season to be bigger, stronger, faster than the year before.
“This group of seniors has done that every single year. That’s one of the biggest things, that and our coaching staff has put us in this position where we were so dominant at the 4A level.”
Hassett has guided the Knights football program for a quarter-century from humble beginnings as a Tier IV school to where it is today as a fixture on the provincial scene.
“I’m so proud of where it’s come from and where it started, it seems kind of surreal sometimes when I look back where we were,” he said. “Where we are now, it’s beyond my wildest dreams and it’s what we’ve been working on for a long time.
“Kudos to my coaching staff, I’ve got the best staff, I couldn’t do it without all of those guys. We’re such a good unit, we like going out together, spending time together, it’s really a family.”
