If you have not been out to see a Sr Football game this year, you are truly missing out on a super on-field product. I have been involved in High School Football in St Albert for about 8 years now and I have never seen this kind of offensive and defensive talent. These boys can really put a game of football together and are truly showing themselves to be the team to beat this year for the division banner!
On offense, if you try to cover one key receiver (Tyler Turner for instance), any of the other 5 (Theo Block, Frankie White, Fawad Qadiri, Shaydon Philip or Jon Pharis) may burn you. If you do somehow shut down the pass, the QB (Cory Knott) has the fastest feet in the league and he can burn you on the bootleg outside. And if that is not enough, we have 2 punishing Running Backs (Kieran Porter and Greg Flemming) that can take it to you up the gut behind their solid offensive line (Graeme Loerke, Liam Ryan, Zach Dreger, Matt Klassen and Julian Pawlichka- oh and Greg Flemming- when he is not running he is the starting guard). There is just no way to stop all of the weapons - in fact, even our Grade 10 rookie backup QB Brendan Guy has more TD passes than most of the starting QB's in our league right now. It is truly awesome to watch it develop on the field.
And then there is the D - for the uninitiated, a shutout in football is very difficult to pull off and yet we've made it happen. Be it on the D line with big Matt Klassen and Kirkland Marthinson at nose and Liam Ryan, Jon Smith and Brian Mehok providing pressure or be it the great inside tandem of Graeme Loerke and Greg Flemming at LB with Julian Pawlichka and Nolan Florence from the outside LB and their relentless pursuit of the ball - they provide punishing hit after punishing hit to opposing players. And the secondary - what blanket coverage - Frankie 'the silent assassin' White and newcomer to the CB Fawad Qadiri along with Ryan Strachan and Riley Melnyk virtually shut down the pass. If somehow it does get completed though, safeties Thompson Clark and Shaydon Philip are usually on hand quickly to also lay a lick.
If you haven't seen a game, it's time!