High schools put gridiron hopes on line

October 30, 2008 - Winnipeg Free Press
Ashley Prest

There will be a new champion in the 2008 ANAVETS Bowl of the Winnipeg High School Football League, and one player in particular is rushing to get there.

Running back Sean Clark of Churchill Bulldogs, the WHSFL's leading rusher and scorer, said the Bulldogs are focused on a change of fortune this year from last year, when they lost in the semifinals.

The Bulldogs (6-1), second in the Potter AAA division for a second straight year, will face Grant Park Pirates (2-5) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in that division's first semifinal. Other semifinals in the league's three divisions will be played Thursday and Friday.

In the quarter-finals last week, Grant Park upset last year's finalist Sisler 1, and defending champion Oak Park Raiders were eliminated in a loss to Kelvin Clippers. The first semifinals will be played today in other divisions.

"We always bring it up at the end of practice how it felt to walk off the field after a tough loss, so we're just focused on working through it and hopefully having a spot in the finals," said Clark, a Grade 12 team captain who had 112 carries for 1,076 yards with 15 rushing touchdowns in the regular season.

"I like how well-balanced our team is this year. We've just been working hard and I know we're going to go in and play our hearts out."
Bulldogs coach Kelsey McKay, whose school last won a WHSFL championship in 2004 when there were only two divisions, said he believes his team's fortitude has already been tested to get to this point.

"We had a lot of injuries and illnesses early in the year and we didn't get everybody back until Week 5 or 6, so we've really gone through a lot of adversity already," McKay said. "For the most part, it's been sticking together and 'let's get through this,' so we believe we're peaking at the right time of the year."
Both Grant Park and Kelvin, which won the Vidruk AA division last year, moved up to the Potter AAA division this season. The Clippers will meet St. Paul's Crusaders 1 in the other Potter AAA division semifinal at 5:15 p.m. Friday in a game that will feature only one player who was on the 2006 champion St. Paul's team as a Grade 10 player -- defensive tackle Zach Robert .

"It would be very nice to share that experience with this team, but we still have a big step to go before that," said Robert, whose Crusaders team lost in last year's semifinals to the eventual champion Oak Park squad.
"We're going to have to be very focused on our own jobs and Kelvin as a team before we can think of any of that."

The Crusaders will be led by the league's top passer, quarterback Nicholas Cobb.
"Our strength has definitely been on our offence this year, where we've had a pretty balanced run-pass threat," said St. Paul's 1 head coach Stacy Dainard. "For this group, it's very important to get there (the final). They've worked really hard and they're looking forward to the opportunity to play Kelvin and hopefully earn a berth."

The semifinal playoff schedule has one game that will not be played in Canad Inns Stadium, as Garden City Fighting Gophers and St. Paul's 2 will meet at 3 p.m. Friday at St. Paul's High School field. Canad Inns Stadium was not available at that time due to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats practice in preparation for their CFL game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca