Fredericton Junior Black Kats

2009 Schedule

Playoffs

Published in the Fredericton Gleaner on Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Appeared on page B1

The coach of the Fredericton Junior Black Kats said it wasn't part of the preparation process.

But he said winning the Maritime bantam football championship in overtime Sunday in Dartmouth felt a little extra special for the players who were part of the Kats team which had lost in last year's Maritime final in triple overtime.

A one-yard plunge by running back Blake Murphy on their first series in overtime provided the winning margin in the Kats' 28-21 victory over the Dartmouth, N.S. Destroyers in the Maritime final before some 200 fans in Dartmouth.

A year ago, the Jr. Kats were 15-14 losers to the Annapolis Valley Bulldogs in triple overtime at Rocky Stone Field in Moncton.

The Bliss Carman Eagles of Fredericton were also vying for a Maritime pee wee title, but had a rough go of it against the Nova Scotia-champion Timberlea Titans earlier Sunday in Dartmouth, losing 54-6.

"All season, it's just been to focus on one game at a time,'' said Kats' coach David Knott. "I didn't mention what happened last year because I didn't want to put those negative thoughts in their minds. But some of the players talked about it, and I'm sure it helped some of them get ready.''

Sunday's final was a see-saw affair, with the teams tied at 14 at the half. The Jr. Kats were the first to score with quarterback Kyle Arsenault finding wide receiver Weston Durling in the end zone to culminate the team's opening drive.

The Destroyers would respond later in the first quarter on a touchdown by A'dre Fraser.

Running back Reid Johnson pushed the ball over from three yards out to give the Kats the lead again early in the second quarter, however, the Destroyers would drive the ball down the field in the waning moments of the half, with quarterback Cody Cluett pushing it over on a quarterback-keeper from one yard out. With the convert, the game was tied.

Arsenault would hit game MVP Tommy McGinn on a pass and run play covering 45 yards for the major score early in the third quarter, giving the Kats a 21-14 lead. They had a chance to pad the lead, scrimmaging from the Dartmouth one-yard line, however, a series of penalties pushed them out of scoring range.

With about 1:30 remaining, the Destroyers got on the board when Ashton Slawter returned a Phil Long punt for 70 yards and the touchdown. "That was tough because we could have pinned them in around the 10, but he made a couple of great moves and went all the way for the score,'' said Knott.

However, the convert attempt was blocked, so the Kats still led, 21-20. They tried to run out the clock, but with just under a minute to go, the Destroyers were able to drive the ball to the Kats 24-yard line. On third down, they punted the ball into the end zone, and Kats' Jeremie Boutot was unable to bring it out, accounting for the single point and tying the game at 21-21 at the end of regulation.

Destroyers won the coin toss for the overtime, and elected to have the Kats take the ball first. Rules in overtime call for the ball to be placed on the opponent's 35-yard line, with each team getting an attempt.

"We knew their weakness was to the right side, so that's where we wanted to take the ball,'' said Knott. In just four plays, Murphy was able to the end zone from one-yard out. Boutot's convert made it 28-21.

Big plays in the winning drive were an Arsenault pass to Weston Durling for about seven yards, a 13-yard run by Murphy and another run by Reid Johnson that got it to the goal-line. Murphy plunged over from there.

On their possession, Dartmouth quarterback Cody Cluett was able to drive the ball to about the Kats' 15-yard line, but that's where the drive stalled.

"It would have been nice to win it at home, but going there as a team on the bus like that sort of made it feel like we were going to the show,'' said Knott. "It helped that we had done it the week before in Moncton.''

The victory in Dartmouth completed a season which saw the Kats go 5-0-1 in regular Capital Minor Football League play, defeat Northside Jr. Lions 25-0 to win the Capital title, get past Hampton Huskies 24-14 in the provincial semifinal and capture their second straight N.B. title with a 46-0 hammering of the Moncton Highlanders last weekend in Moncton.

For the Ewart Kenny-coached Eagles, Sunday's final was a difficult finish for what had been an up-and-down season. Kenny said because of problems with their bus, the team arrived to the field just minutes before they were supposed to kick off, had to change into their gear on the bus, and be ready to play.

They fell behind 40-0 at the half, scoring their only touchdown in the third quarter when Eagles' game MVP Rob DeMerchant ran the ball in from about five yards out to complete a scoring drive. At that point, the Titans were ahead 48-0.

The Eagles were 4-3 in regular league action before getting hot in the playoffs, defeating Oromocto Panthers 30-18 in the Capital final before winning their first provincial pee wee title since 2002 with a come-from-behind 26-24 win over Lancaster Abbies in semifinal play and 14-12 over the Sackville Titans in the provincial final. 
  

By Bruce Hallihan
Published in the Fredericton Gleaner on Thursday, November 19, 2009
Appeared on page B1

The Fredericton Junior Black Kats couldn't have scripted a better start to the New Brunswick bantam football final last Sunday.

On the first play from scrimmage, Derrick Nickerson raced 75 yards down the sideline for a touchdown and the Kats went on to clobber the Moncton Highlanders 46-0.

"That helps a lot with the confidence of the team," Kats coach David Knott said. "At the same time, for the opposing team that's a big strike. That's not a confidence-booster for any team.

"We had a game plan to come out strong and make them react."

The Kats hope to take one last step on Sunday when they head to Nova Scotia to face the Dartmouth Destroyers for the Maritime championship. In last season's final, the Kats lost 15-14 in overtime to the Antigonish Valley Bulldogs.

Knott, who took over head coaching duties from Mark Dee, has enjoyed coaching the Kats "immensely."

After posting a 5-0-1 regular season record (tying the rival Northside Junior Lions 32-32 on Oct. 2), Fredericton shut out the Lions 25-0 in the Capital Area Minor Football Association final, then downed Hampton 24-14 in the provincial semifinal.

"We're the true definition of a team," Knott said. "Every game we've had a different player or players step up and be huge factors for us. We don't rely on any one player. Our whole offensive line has been outstanding.

"We have good running backs, receivers, defensive backs and linebackers and our defensive line has been solid."

Quarterback Kyle Arsenault fired four touchdown passes against the Highlanders, including a pair to Weston Durling as the Kats opened up a commanding 32-0 halftime cushion.

"Kyle had a slow start to the season, but he's really come on strong," Knott said. "He's making smart decisions."

Nova Scotia teams have a three-month advantage in the age category, so most of their players will be older and, by extension, bigger and stronger.

"It will be our toughest game of the season," Knott said. "Do we have a chance? I'd like to think we do."

What's helped the Black Kats get this far, the coach said, is the push the players on the 12-man squad have received from the backups.

"They've made all of our starters better by pushing them every practice," Knott said. "They've forced our starters to stay focused all the time."

The Kats won't be the only team representing the CAMFA in a Maritime final. The Bliss Carman Eagles will battle the Timberlea Titans in the peewee showdown preceding the bantam title tilt.

The Eagles, who last won the New Brunswick championship in 2002 when they still called Albert Street home, had to work hard to get this far.

They went 4-3 in the regular season, but beat the Nashwaaksis Nordics 30-0 in the city quarter-final, downed the Devon Wildcats 36-0 in the semifinal, then defeated the Oromocto Panthers 30-18 in the final. The Panthers and Wildcats both went 6-1 in the regular season.

In the provincial semifinal, the Eagles trailed the Lancaster Abbies by 10 points with three minutes remaining but rallied for a 26-24 victory.

"We caused a fumble and went about 40 yards for a touchdown," Kenney said, "then, with a little over a minute left, we did an onside kick, recovered it and scored the winning touchdown with 24 seconds left."

That's when Greg Francis got into the end zone on a 14-yard sweep and Bennett Wilson kicked the two-point convert.

The provincial final at Rocky Stone Field in Moncton turned out to be tight, too. Bliss Carman built a 14-0 halftime lead and held on to edge the Sackville Titans 14-12.

"We have no interlocking play," Kenney said, "so they knew about as much about us as we did them. They had one kid, Cody Weeks, who's a really good athlete and he scored both of their touchdowns."

Kenney figures the Eagles will be in tough in the Maritime final.

Francis, who plays middle linebacker and fullback, broke his arm with three minutes left in the Sackville game and will have to watch from the sidelines.

The biggest obstacle, though, is Timberlea's depth and experience.

Bliss Carman is a city team with 25 players whereas the Titans are a club team that traditionally has 50-60 players try out.

"They're 8-0 in their league and they have a lot of older players," Kenney said. "It won't be easy."

The Eagles have two quarterback choices in Adam Marion and Ryker Brennan.

"Adam isn't as mobile but he's a real student of the game," Kenney said. "Ryker gives us some different options with his running abilities. Really, though, it's been a total team effort to get this far. We may use certain players in key situations but, unlike some other teams, everyone gets to play."

Kenney, who's been coaching for 34 years, lauds the support he's received from Bliss Carman principal Peter Steeves, vice principal John Hamilton and athletic director Jamie Chiasson.

"They've been tremendous," he said.
   

Published in the Fredericton Gleaner on Monday, November 16, 2009
Appeared on page B3

The Bliss Carman Eagles beat one set of Titans for the New Brunswick peewee football championship. They'll have to beat another one next week to win the Maritime title.

The Eagles edged the Sackville Titans 14-12 at Rocky Stone Field in Moncton Sunday to capture the provincial championship. Meanwhile, the Fredericton Junior Black Kats won the provincial bantam crown with a 46-0 shellacking of the Moncton Highlanders to capture the provincial bantam crown. It marked the second year in a row representatives from the Capital Area Minor Football Association have captured the title in these age groups.

The Eagles survived a driving rain and a healthy scare from the Titans to win their crown. They started strong, with quarterback Ryker Brennan completing a clock-eating 70 yard drive up the field with a 10-yard keeper to make it 6-0. They boosted the lead to 14-0 late in the second quarter when Greg Francis plunged into the end zone from a yard out. Bennett Wilson booted a two point convert and the Eagles were up 14-0 at the half.

But it wasn't over.

The Titans came back with a touchdown of their own late in the third quarter, with Cody Weeks hitting paydirt to make it 14-6. But, though the Titans held field position, spending most of the fourth quarter in the Eagles' end of the field, they couldn't punch it across for the major score until Weeks scored again with 25 seconds left on the clock to make it 14-12. The Eagles blocked the convert attempt to keep the score at 14-12 and the Titans' short kickoff attempt failed. Bliss Carman was able to run out the clock to protect the lead and the victory. The win gives them the right to travel to Dartmouth, N.S. next Sunday, where they'll battle the Timberlea Titans for the Maritime title.

The Junior Black Kats had a much easier time in the bantam tilt, rolling to the lopsided win over the Highlanders.

They set the tone on the first play from scrimmmage when Derrick Nickerson dashed 75 yards down the left sideline for a quick six-pointer. Jeremy Boutout booted the two point convert, and the Kats were on their way. Quarterback Kyle Arsenault connected with Weston Durling on a 30-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, Boutout applied the boot again, and it was 16-0 after the first quarter.

The Kats didn't look back. Arsenault fired a pair of 40-yard strikes, to Durling and Tom McGinn, respectively, and the successful converts made it 32-0 at the half. Arsenault connected with Ryan Colpitts on a 25-yard strike and Blake Stewart dashed 25 yards on run for the last two scores, with Boutout converting both to complete the scoring. The Kats will face the Dartmouth Destroyers for the Maritime championship next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the Dartmouth Burnside Turf to complete the doubleheader.