A Stettler high school punter has caught the eye of the Football Alberta Selects North High School All-Star Team. Anton Stewart, in his final year of high school, attended the tryout camp over the weekend.
“I was the only one who went from Stettler so I just went there not knowing anybody. Being optimistic I just talked to people from Rocky Mountain House and Red Deer,” he said.
The punter/wide receiver went through what most players at tryout camps go through — first it’s isolation then it’s down to business.
The players run a 40-yard dash, a long jump, high jump and the bench press, all to impress coaches and prove they can play the game of football. “I did alright in the 40,” said Stewart. “My jumps were the best, I had the second tallest vertical jump for the slot backs and the longest standing jump for slot backs as well.” His jump was 3.8 metres.
Standing 5’10 ft. tall, 167 lbs you can probably guess where he needs a little work. “Bench press was my worst.”
The next day they played a skeleton scrimmage type practice. It was four on four. And finally on Sunday was full contact scrimmage. Stewart said things got serious during scrimmage. “We’re all pretty intense there. We were all trying to impress and trying to do our best. There were pretty nice blocks and hits. But the body heals.”
Then he found out on Monday, that he made the team. “I was actually pretty surprised,” he said. “Because when you look at the roster, 75 per cent of the people are from Sherwood Park or Edmonton.”
Being named to the North High School All-Star team means, Stewart will represent Northern Alberta in the 23rd Annual Senior Bowl High School Football All-Star Game. The game takes place at Foote Field in Edmonton on May 21st.
Now for Stewart to be playing in the game as one of six different receivers on the North team, he’ll likely be playing a couple series at a time. But the player who had five touchdowns, two safeties and 35 points on the year has more to offer than just catching the ball. For his team in Stettler, he did it all. He played receiver, punter and he played linebacker as well — a triple threat. And a versatile player is always a commodity in football.
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