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 winter conditions in the Alberta Bowl 4A provincial football final Saturday afternoon in Grande Prairie.
HTA, finalists in five of the past six playoffs held, started brilliantly.
Seth 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.
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 were in the end zone 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 the imposing offensive line creating holes for Poelzer to make plays in the open field.
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.
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.
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.
