Kats boot Blues to the sidelines
Published Saturday October 31st, 2009
High school football | Esson single sends Kats to provincial semifinal
For a mediocre 40 yard punt it certainly kicked off a wild celebration.
Factor in that it was kicked on the last play of the opening game of the New Brunswick High School Football League Western Conference l playoffs, and gave the Fredericton High School Black Kats the single point they needed to down the Oromocto High School Blues 11-10, though, and the ensuing melee on the turf at Chapman Field makes a little more sense.
"I have never won a game with a punt before," Peter Esson, the Grade 11 kid who kicked it said afterwards. "It felt amazing. Just unbelievable."
In a game that featured the two best defenses in the Western conference in terms of points allowed and one team - Oromocto High School - that hadn't been scored on in three games, Friday evening's quarterfinal at Chapman Field was, as billed, a defensive battle.
It may not have looked that way at first.
Oromocto quarterback James Mitchell made a 50 yard drive, capped off with a 25 yard field goal from Josh Blanchard, look like child's play on the game's opening series. Then, after Blanchard missed a 30 yard field goal on the Blues next series, Mitchell drove the field again, hitting Mitch McCoy with a 40 yard bomb in the front corner of the end zone to make it 10-0.
But the offensive sparks would only fly for so long.
The Black Kats contained star Oromocto High School slot back Nathan Heather for much of the game and were able to continually break up passes to talented wideouts McCoy and Pat Haley.
Eventually, the Kats' offence woke up too, as quarterback Jeff Madsen took the Kats all the way to the 18 yard line late in the first half, and Esson made no mistake on the field goal.
Early in the second half Madsen tied the game up on a quarterback draw from 10 yards out.
The play was made possible thanks to a 50 yard kickoff return from Black Kat Garrett Gee.
"He (Madsen) makes a huge difference in the offence and he certainly did today, but you know everyone had to step up and everyone did," said Black Kats head coach Mike Casey.
"Defence was huge, special teams were big and the offence moved the ball.That's what needs to happen to win a football game."
In the second both offences continued to struggle while both defences turned up their intensity.
The fact that the biggest catch of the day was an interception - Gee picked off Josh Blanchard at the one yard line midway through the third quarter - should tell you something.
In fact Fredericton High School's defence was so good in the waning minutes,that Oromocto, who had outscored their opponents 131-0 over their last three games, put up three straight three-and-out series' deep in their own end zone, as the battle for field position started to shift.
Finally the Kats got the ball back with 47 seconds left, got a first down, and left the rest up to Esson.
"Our defense didn't bend all day, but offensively we struggled and at the end of the day they had great field position on us at the end at that was the difference," said OHS head coach Rob Wilson.
"One first down at the end there and a better job of getting the clock off and it might have been different, but they (FHS) deserved to win today."
Mitchell, who took over quarterbacking duties after regular starter Jesse Rae broke his leg in early October, said it was a frustrating game to play.
"They were plugging up holes and we just couldn't open them up and when that happens you can't run," he said. "It is pretty depressing right now, but we tried our hardest and we just didn't come up with it."
The Black Kats will play the winner of today's game between the Moncton High Purple Knights and Riverview Royals on the road next weekend. Harrison Trimble Trojans of Moncton, the fourth place finishers in the East with a 2-4 record, who posted an upset of their own when they knocked off the defending provincial champion and Eastern Conference winning Bernice MacNaughton Highlanders 10-7 in Moncton.
The status of Kats' quarterback Madsen, who was hit hard late in the game and helped off the field, is unknown.
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