Inter-city junior rivalry opens Prairie Football Conference season
By Cam Tait,
Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON – On one side of the field will be 39 rookies and a brand new offensive scheme.
On the other side will be a team that hopes to pick up where it left off — reaching the national junior football championship game.
The Edmonton Wildcats and the Edmonton Huskies will kick off the regular season of the Prairie Football Conference at 1 p.m. today at Clarke Park.
Don’t be surprised if Huskies coach Beau Mirau needs a program to keep track of his players.
Returning for his fifth year is all-star quarterback Nathan Alldritt, but two key losses for the team are running back Nathan Thomas and kicker Grant Shaw.
“We’re going to miss those guys big time,” Mirau said as he took a short break Saturday from his game preparations.
“We’re replacing 39 players. We have 30 first-year guys,” said the sophomore head coach.
“We’ve been knocking on doors looking for players everywhere.”
Dan Medina, 21, was working as a framer on a construction site and asked Mirau if he could have a chance.
“We put him in some equipment last week and we’re going to see what happens.”
Medina played some football in Manitoba as a defensive back.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete,” Mirau said.
The Huskies have also made some changes to the coaching staff. Eric Blount, who played for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, is running back coach.
Former offensive co-ordinator John Belmont is now the Huskies’ recruiting co-ordinator.
Mirau has taken over the role of offensive co-ordinator and has devised a new offensive system.
“In a sense, we’re all rookies because we’re all learning the offence together,” said Mirau. “With younger guys you can mould them a little better.”
The Huskies were 5-3 and lost in the conference championship.
“I expect we’ll come out and be very physical and set the tempo so other teams will have to catch us,” said Mirau.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats are coming off a heartbreaking 27-26 loss to the Vancouver Island Raiders in last season’s Canadian Bowl in Nanaimo, B.C. The Wildcats were 8-0 in the PFC in 2006 and won two playoff games before losing in the national championship.
“To play our crosstown rival in our first game is very exciting,” said Wildcats coach Gary Dirchuk. “We’re going to try to carry on where we left off. In fact, some of our players decided to come back this year because of (last season). The loss drove us to come back and get ready for this season.”
Dirchuk, who won coach-of-the-year honours last season, said he has 45 players returning from the 2006 roster.
Returning to the Cats is running dynamo Tristan Jones.
“We’ll have the cast around Tristan and we’re looking forward to the start of the season.
