By Sturgeon Spirits Head Coach Chad Hill
In their inaugural season, the Sturgeon Junior Spirits football team has captured a divisional championship banner. The young gridiron squad avenged their lone loss by soundly defeating the Austin O’Brien Junior Crusaders 41-0 last Wednesday night (Oct. 30) at Johnny Bright Park. With the victory, the Spirits end the season with a 5-1 record and the division three Metro Edmonton Athletic Association Junior football championship. The Crusaders blew out the Spirits by a score of 36-6 in regular-season play. However, the championship game was a one-sided affair in favour of Sturgeon.
Late in the opening quarter, the initial points were conceded by the Crusaders’ punter as he took a knee in his own endzone to give up the two-point safety touch. Although the two points would be the only points needed, the floodgates opened for an offense torrent for the remainder of the first half. Gage St-Louis scored the first major of the game with a ten-yard scamper to the corner of the endzone. Nash Zubiak would kick the convert for a 9-0 Sturgeon lead. Merrick Ouellette and Aden Jayasinghe both secured fumble recoveries to set up the next two scoring drives. Ouellette would score a five-yard major through the heart of the Crusader defense and Riley Brown would dash 38 yards for the 3rd Sturgeon touchdown. Before the half, Gage St-Louis would score his second major of the game and Ouellette would run in the two-point conversion for a 29-0 score.
The second half would see solid defense played by both squads. The lone offensive major was scored from an Isaac Lorenzin pass to Hunter Mason from fourteen yards out. From there, the Spirits’ defense continued to pound the Crusaders into submission. Defensive End, Adler Hoffman led the charge with two quarterback sacks and a fumble recovery. The game ended with an exclamation as Nash Zubiak leaped in front of an errant Crusader pass and zig-zagged 35 yards to score with zeros on the clock. The Spirits would empty the bench and charge the field in celebration.
Offensively, Merrick Ouellete finished the game with 145 yards rushing and Gage St-Louis finished the game with 109 yards. Multi-purpose weapon, Riley Brown finished with eighty yards on the ground.
After a successful opening season, the Junior Spirits will look to ascend to the first division in 2025. The 2024 championship squad comprised of mainly first-year football players.
On Saturday (November 2nd), Sturgeon Spirits stand-out football player, Tanner McBride was awarded the Haliburton trophy as the Miles (Division Two) Most Valuable Player in the Metro Edmonton High School Athletic Association. McBride had videogame-like numbers in 2024. He set school records with 1060 yards rushing (15.9 yards per carry average) and twenty offensive touchdowns. McBride also had 395 yards receiving on fifteen receptions and threw for a major. Defensively, he racked up 3 sacks, two interceptions and had two defensive touchdowns. The dynamic gridiron warrior also blocked a punt and a field goal. In only his second season of organized football, the lanky 6 ft 1 McBride demonstrated her versatility and athletic prowess. He will take his talents to the University of Alberta in 2025.
Team Champions – from Irene Gibbons
The Sturgeon offense rushed for over 350 yards in the championship. – Irene Gibbons Photo
