By Bill Hunt 
Published in the Daily Gleaner on November 10, 2008
Appeared on Page B1

The George Street Crusaders had it all working Sunday afternoon at Chapman Field.

The Crusaders, the Capital Area Minor Football Association champions, steamrollered the Lancaster Abbies 32-0 to capture the Bob Pierce Memorial Trophy as provincial peewee football champions.

The Fredericton Junior Black Kats beat the Hampton Huskies 20-8 to win the bantam title later in the day, marking the first sweep of the titles ever for the Capital Area loop.

The Crusaders played solid defence all day and that allowed them time to get the offence untracked.

Quarterback Matt Murphy finished off a couple of drives with quarterback keepers for touchdowns in each of the first and second quarters to give the Crusaders a 16-0 halftime edge.

Halfback Noah Zilbert completed a 22-yard halfback option pass to Klinton Miller on a third and long and then took it 24 yards to the house on the next play and then booted the two-point convert to make it 24-0, and fullback Blake Murphy completed the rout with a 27 yard touchdown run as the Crusaders cruised to the win. They'll host the Nova Scotia champions for the Maritime championship on Sunday. The time and location is still to be determined.

"After our second touchdown, I just know our team felt really good and really pumped up," said Zilbert, who demonstrated good speed to get outside and, when the situation called for it, demonstrated he could throw the ball downfield on the halfback option too.

"I think both offence and defence were really good today," he said.

"After our second touchdown, we started building some momentum," said Matt Murphy. "I was pretty nervous, but after kickoff, on the first play, the nerves started leaving."

The Crusaders controlled things pretty much the entire afternoon, but couldn't take advantage right away. Off the kickoff, they held the Abbies on downs and partially blocked the fourth down punt to set up first and 10 from the Lancaster 16. Zilbert fumbled on the next play though.

Lancaster couldn't move the chains though, and after punting from the end zone, the Crusaders had it first and goal from the seven. Once again, they couldn't punch it in, although a pass from Murphy to Mark Stewart that was deflected to Klinton Miller certainly looked like a major. Stewart couldn't take it in on fourth and goal either and Lancaster once again took it on downs.

On the next series though, the Crusaders got it back first and goal from the one after Stewart made the key tackle on fourth down. Murphy took it over on the next play, Zilbert booted the first of his four converts, and the Crusaders were off and running toward the title.

"I tried to keep the team confident and tell them 'It's OK, we'll get it back,'" said Matt Murphy. "And then, on one of the next plays we got a touchdown, so it was OK."

"I'm so excited. I don't have feelings right now," said Stewart. "I'm so happy we won. They were better than I thought they'd be."

Head coach Dave Zilbert paid tribute to the Crusaders defence. He said the atmosphere at Chapman Field, with a raucous home crowd, contributed to the effort.

"We've been known for our high-powered offence all season, but it was the defence that was the key," he said. "We kicked off in the first quarter and pinned them deep, four and out in their first series. That was key to the momentum swing. And the parents, with the big cheering section and the college-like atmosphere in here, it gave our kids a real boost. When you're 12 and 13, that can mean almost as much as skill."

Zilbert was happy for all his youngsters. "I'm very pleased for the players. It's been a long road since August 18, since the first day of training camp."

Where it goes from here remains to be seen.

Both the Crusaders and Black Kats are scheduled to host Maritime championship football games this Sunday, but with the inflatable bubble due to go up at Chapman Field, the facility won't be available unless officials from the Capital Association can talk UNB into delaying construction of the bubble for another week.