Knockdown vs Saint John High

KAT ON THE PROWL (The Daily Gleaner/David Smith Photo)
Defensive back Bobby McIntyre, left, of the Fredericton High School Black Kats steps in front of intended receiver Jeremy Bigger of the Oromocto High School Blues for one of his two interceptions during Saturday's provincial high school football league final at FHS Field. McIntyre, who was playing with a broken fibula, helped the Kats capture the Ed Skiffington Trophy with a 26-9 victory over their long-time rivals

By MIKE POWER
mpower@dailygleaner.com

After Bobby McIntyre's second interception of the day, he got up slowly, and appeared to be milking the moment in front of a large group of Oromocto High School fans.
That might have been what the fans thought. But they would have perhaps been a tad more sympathetic if they had known the truth.
The truth is that McIntyre of the Fredericton High School Black Kats played the entire provincial football final game Saturday with a broken leg.
Not only did he play, but he played well, witness the two picks, as the Black Kats returned to the top of the provincial high school football mountain with a 26-9 win over the OHS Blues at FHS Field.
"That will rank high in my memories of this sport," said FHS coach Larry Wisniewski of McIntyre's effort.
"That was one of the turning points of the game when he made his interceptions. They were emotional lifts for the team in a very tough football game, a game that was decided by heart and courage."
The win gives the Black Kats the Ed Skiffington Trophy for the second time in three years and 11th time since 1986.
Despite a broken fibula suffered in the Kats' final regular season game, McIntyre was an integral part of a Black Kats defence that all but grounded the potent offence of the Blues.
"I couldn't stand the thought of watching this from the sidelines," McIntyre said choking back his emotion. "As the game got closer, the leg felt better and better, the adrenaline kicked in and I was able to focus on playing the game."
The Blues were held to just 144 total yards of offence and although they got their one touchdown-and a two point convert through the air, it was the only dent the passing game put in the Black Kats all day.
Brian Von Richter's passing arm had been a central weapon for the Blues all season but he was held to 55 yards through the air, completing only four of 15 attempts and being intercepted three times.
That left the Blues to try to win the game on the ground, and they came close. In fact, this game was tied 9-9 with nine minutes to play. OHS running back Kyle Roesler carried 18 times for 79 yards, good but not good enough against a gritty Fredericton defence led by McIntyre, one among several key defensive cogs on this day.
Kats took control of what had been an evenly played game going into the final quarter, scoring 17 points over the final eight minutes. Fourteen of those points in the final 2:21.
The OHS defence did its part most of the way before finally failing in the closing minutes. The Blues kept the Kats to 199 yards of total offence, much of it coming late in the day. Derek Madsen was the workhorse running the ball with 15 carries resulting in 68 yards. His longest run was a 27-yard touchdown gallop with less than a minute to play.
FHS quarterback Andrew Hickey also stepped up to put his mark on the win. Hickey's passing didn't play much of a role as he was just two of 10 for 21 yards and picked off twice. His running, however, was perhaps the difference in the game as he ran for 64 yards on eight carries scoring two touchdowns.
The Kats built a 9-0 lead over the first 18 minutes. They scored a touchdown in the first quarter on a nine-yard run by Hickey, however, Justin Conn missed the convert though.
Midway though the second quarter FHS added a field goal on a Conn kick from 21-yards out.
Both those scores came as a result of failed laterals by the Blues that instead hit the turf and became free balls recovered by quick as a cat Kats.
But FHS also made mistakes and let the Blues back into the game with a minute to play in the half.
With OHS on its own 36-yard line, the Blues worked a hook and ladder gimmick play for a major gain. That was bad but worse for FHS were a pair of flags including an objectionable conduct penalty that placed the ball on the Kats' 14-yard line.
It opened the door for a 12 yard VonRichter to Jeremy Bigger strike for a touchdown. Those two then hooked up for a two-point convert to send the teams to the half with FHS now only up 9-8.
OHS completed the comeback with 29 seconds left in the third quarter when Jory Smith's 30-yard field punt was wide but through the end zone for a single point.
OHS appeared to have momentum but the Kats dug deep and hit back and eventually took control.
"They had thrown every thing they had at us at that point," Hickey said. "We knew we had something left though. We knew we could still get it done."
Starting at their own 35-yard line, the Kats launched an 11-play, four-minute drive to set up a 15-yard field goal by Conn with 8:20 to play.
"The turning point came when Andrew Hickey fumbled the ball (on the drive), but picked it up and ran a broken play for a big gain instead of it being a turnover," McIntyre said.
"That was maybe the difference between two great teams in a close game." OHS coach Rob Wilson agreed that was the beginning of the end.
"They went on that two snap and fumbled. We would have had the ball, tie game, eight or nine minutes left. It was huge," Wilson said.
"Right there, if anything drove Fredericton to the win it was right there, and we just ran out of steam."
It was all FHS would need.
OHS would get the ball four more times combining to move forward 15 yards in total and losing the ball on a punt, two interceptions and a turnover on downs.
While that was going on the Black Kats offence supplied 14 nail in the coffin points on a 10-yard touchdown run by Hickey and a 27-yard ramble to the end zone by Madsen to finally slam the door tightly shut.
"Anybody that was here knows this was a game much closer than the score," Wilson summed up. "At the end we got forced into a position where we had to take gambles and a very good (FHS) team won those gambles and won the game. We had a good day, they had a great day."
    

Mike Power
Schoolyard

Terry McIntyre had a secret, a secret he couldn't tell no matter how proud he was, when interviewed for a story in this very paper midway through last week.
McIntyre was featured for his work in local minor football circles as a prelude to Saturday's provincial high school football final.
He was quick to point out how proud he was of the Capital Area Minor Football Association's contribution to a game featuring minor alumni on both the Oromocto High School and Fredericton High School teams.
But as for his secret source of pride, and no doubt concern, he had to keep that quiet. Quiet, that is, until a minute remained in the final and the Black Kats had all but lifted the Ed Skiffington Trophy, emblematic of the provincial high school football championship, after beating the Blues 26-9.
That's when McIntyre came over to me to tell me his secret. "My son, Bobby, played this whole game on a broken leg," he said.
I was astounded, and displaying my well-honed reporter instincts, I replied with a sharp insightful question.
"Huh?" I said. "A what? Did you say a leg? Really?"
Well, Edward R. Murrow wouldn't have been proud but who could blame me? After all, Bobby McIntyre had just been one of the stars of the game, two interceptions and a bunch of other stuff.
But I did find out what Terry McIntyre was talking about once I picked my jaw up off the ground.
It seems Bobby had been injured against Leo Hayes in the final game of the regular season. He was pulled down from the side and the torque of the tackle snapped his fibula. Ouch!
I wanted to know if McIntyre, the son, had taken some kind of freezing agent, morphine or some such thing. No, his father told me, just Ibuprofen.
"He's one tough little guy," said Terry McIntyre beaming with pride.
Yes he is. I catch a cold and I'm home for three days.
"I didn't play last week," Bobby McIntyre said after the game. "And I couldn't stand watching from the sidelines anymore."
So he used the emotion, the adrenaline and yes the Ibuprofen, sucked it up and went out to play the final game of his high school career because he will graduate in the spring of next year.
"This is the game of my life," McIntyre said fighting back tears of joy no doubt in advance of some tears of pain that would follow when the adrenaline left his system some hours in the future.
"I played the game of my life. I'll probably never play like that again. It was the most beautiful game I've ever played and I'm just ecstatic."
The only time it was obvious was after his second interception of the game around the Oromocto 40-yard line. He went down and stayed down for a while. When he got up, he limped a bit, but was soon back in the game.
"I landed right on the fracture," he said, and again I add, OUCH! "I hurt for five seconds but when I knew we had the ball, the pain went away."

• As for the game itself, the first meeting at the summit of the sport by two of the three local teams, there is no question the best two teams played and no question the best team won.
  FHS did more of the little things that win games. They were good and yes they were lucky, but you have to be good before lucky matters.
  I predicted a six-point difference between the teams and there were just three points separating them with 1:55 to play. That FHS eventually won 26-9 was a shame because 12-9 would have fit the day so much better.
  It's kind of like a team lifting its goalie in a 2-1-hockey game and giving up two empty net goals.
  
• The game didn't measure up to last year's classic between FHS and Bernice MacNaughton High School, unless you are from FHS in which case I'm sure it felt far better.
  But in terms of a story and a memory, well, as a writer it's always good to have drama and pathos, not so much if you are a player I'm sure.
  The luckiest ones are the FHS players who lost with pride and dignity last year but came back to win this year.
  
• Oromocto High School's football players were the ones who walked off with nothing but pride and dignity to take with them this year. Perhaps they can use it to plant a seed like FHS did last year.
  
• And what the heck was this guy thinking? Friday night in Moncton, at the high school football awards banquet, the OHS coaching staff was named coaching staff of the year. As they came up for the award, the presenter, a league officer, gleefully informed those gathered that nobody had ever won the award and the provincial championship.
  So, umm, congratulations and here's the kiss of death. Good luck tomorrow, not that it matters, I guess.
  To his credit OHS skipper Rob Wilson saw the humour in the moment.

1996 Squirt Argonauts
Front Row:  #10 Steve Soucy 
Back Row:  Bobby McIntyre, Andrew Hubbard, Andrew Hickey,
Terry McIntyre (coach)

2005 FHS Varsity Black Kats
Front Row: (l to r)  Bobby McIntyre, Andrew Hickey,
 Andrew Hubbard 
2nd Row: Terry McIntyre,  Steve Soucy