A timely two-touchdown performance and steady defence has the Knights one step closer to the provincial final. Slotback Riley Dallaire caught one touchdown and scored another on a kick-off return as the Holy Trinity Academy Knights held off the Catholic Central Cougars 17-10 in the Football Alberta Tier II provincial quarterfinal Saturday at the University of Lethbridge field. “It’s getting really passionate, we’ve been at it such a long time,” said Dallaire, a Grade 12 student. “We’ve been practising five days a week, we’re not tired, we just want to push and push. “We’ve gone this far and we’re getting real excited for that provincial championship.” The teams previously met during the first week of September with the Knights winning in lopsided fashion. With a shot at the provincial semifinal on the line, it was always going to be a tighter affair. HTA opened the scoring through the air as quarterback Ben Leggett connected with Dallaire behind the Cougars secondary for a 40-yard catch and run to the end-zone. “It was just a perfect pass right into the end-zone,” said Dallaire. The Cougars evened the score late in the half as Mark Federkeil found pay-dirt off a blown coverage, one of the Knights only mishaps of the tilt on defence. Undaunted, the Knights wrestled back control of the game immediately. On the ensuing kick-off, Dallaire followed his blocks, found a seam and turned on his considerable afterburners to score from approximately 90 yards to restore the HTA advantage, 14-7 going into halftime. “They just scored a touchdown and I could feel some of the passion on the sidelines,” Dallaire said. “I knew I had to step up and I got kind of angry, got kind of passionate. “I got the ball, ran as fast as I could, found a huge hole shot right through it and just saw daylight and didn’t stop running. It felt amazing. It wasn’t just me, there were perfect blocks from the team.” The Knights added a fourth-quarter field goal while the Cougars strong-footed Will Hughes answered with a lengthy 45-yard boot to make it a one-score game. Defensive end Alex Leggett put a bow on the result with an interception in the late stages. “Overall it was a bit mixed,” said Knights head coach Matt Hassett. “We moved the ball, we just didn’t finish our drives and it was a little too close for comfort. We would drive, take a silly penalty and put ourselves in second and long. “We definitely have to clean that up.” The third-ranked Knights advance to the Tier II provincial semifinal versus the fourth-seed Hunting Hills Lightning out of Red Deer. The Lightning smashed Calgary’s Robert Thirsk Comets in the other quarterfinal. The Knights will host the game on Nov. 17 at Encana Field within Calgary's Shouldice Park. Kick-off time is 1 p.m. “It’s going to be a good challenge,” Hassett said. “We played Hunting Hills and lost to them earlier in the year, that was a time when we had a lot of guys out.” “They haven’t seen a lot of our best athletes yet.” Hunting Hills edge HTA 19-7 in the regular season meeting in Okotoks in early October. The Red Deer squad can expect to see a much different Knights outfit as both quarterbacks Leggett, Noah Gutek, two-way standout Michael Peloso and other key defenders didn’t play against the Lightning. “We have a lot of confidence,” Hassett said of the Knights’ playoff energy. “We talked a bit after the (Catholic Central) game that we definitely need to play better this week if we want to continue. “That’s par for the course this time of the year, it’s just going to get tougher each week.” Up North, the other Tier II semifinal pits the top-seed Lloydminster Barons and second ranked St. Joseph’s Celtics. The provincial final goes Nov. 24 in the host city of Fort McMurray. For more information go to footballalberta.ab.ca
