Canadian kids from Edmonton travel south for football

CORONADO — It’s been raining buckets in Edmonton this week. Real cold, too.

Football players from Edmonton’s Ainlay High haven’t much noticed though. Not since boarding a plane in Canada on Monday bound for Southern California and the trip of a lifetime.

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“Five of our players had never even flown before,” said Ainlay head coach Danny Boily. “We wanted to do it for the experience, team bonding and the chance to motivate the kids.”
Canadian football

Some differences between Canadian and U.S. football:

Players: Canadians have 12 on the field. U.S. teams use 11.

Downs: Three downs to get a first down in Canada. Four in the U.S.

Motion: All members of the offensive backfield, except the quarterback, can be in motion in Canada. Only one man in motion in the U.S.

Goal posts: On the goal line up north. Back of the end zone in the U.S.

Field size: It’s 110 yards in Canada, with some end zones 20 to 25 yards deep. It’s 100 and 10 yards, respectively, in the U.S. The Canadian field is also about 12 yards wider.

Fair catch: None allowed in Canada.

Visits to Los Angeles and the campus of USC as well as Disneyland, SeaWorld and the beach have been among the stops on a jam-packed itinerary that included Friday night’s football game against Coronado.

Coronado’s’ 25-13 victory did little to dampen the Titans’ spirits.

During the team’s brief stay in L.A. an Ainlay player thought he spotted a star from the MTV show Pimp My Ride.

“He got pretty excited about seeing a celebrity,” said Boily.

Imagine if the player had seen a real reality TV celebrity, like Snooki or The Situation.

“I think anyone and they would be pretty ecstatic,” said Boily.

The highlight for many of the Titans players came Tuesday at Disneyland.

“You hear about it and see it on TV and finally get to go there — pretty cool,” said Ainlay fullback Jonathan Waters. “Space Mountain was good. I went on it five times in a row.”

Even with all the activities, Ainley running back/defensive back Brandon Foster said he was still looking forward to playing the Islanders more than anything.

“You can’t beat football,” said Foster.

Coronado head coach Bud Mayfield agrees, which is why the Islanders have been playing Canadian teams — home and away — for more than a decade now.

“It’s been a great exchange and it’s great for the kids,” said Mayfield before leading his 25-man team onto the field. “This particular night is a little awkward because these guys are good, they were 11-1 (in 2009) and have a school with 2,200.

“I have seven starters out (with injuries) tonight. When you have seven starters out here, you subtract 14 because everybody goes two ways.

“That changes the dynamic of things, but we’re still trying to be good hosts.”

There are several differences between the American and Canadian games. Ainlay had the most trouble trying to run outside on a field that is 12 yards more narrow than theirs — “The sideline comes up pretty quick,” said Waters.

The Titans also were whistled for a few motion penalties, which was understandable considering that in Canada they are allowed as many as four backfield players in motion and forward motion also is allowed.

Although undermanned, Coronado did have senior running back Jeff Bona, who rushed for a 34-yard second-quarter touchdown on the way to 133 yards for the game.

The Islanders also had defensive back Austin Denson, who picked up a fumbled snap on Ainlay’s first possession of the game and intercepted a pass at the goal on the Titans’ last possession of the first half. Inserted at quarterback in the second half, Denson connected in the third quarter on touchdown passes of 68 yards to Jordan Jacobs and 15 yards to Ryan Halvorson and rushed 13 yards for a fourth-quarter TD.

Ainlay is scheduled to conclude its trip tonight by attending the Virginia-USC game at the Coliseum. There the Titans may be in for a treat on the Trojans sidelines — football players AND celebrities.

By Kirk Kenney, Special to the U-T

PICTURE:

Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 11:47 p.m.
Coronado cheerleaders Allie Lehr (left) and Chelsea Arthur (right) hold the Canadian flag during the Canadian national anthem before the game.