Seniors ousted in playoffs; peewees clinch first

Justin Seward

Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Spartans high school football season came to an end on Friday, Oct. 17 at the hands of Medicine Hat High School with a 36-6 defeat in the first round of the playoffs. The difference in the game is that the Spartans were slow at the start of the game and just could not capitalize in the red zone. “Right off the bat, our intensity level didn’t match theirs at the beginning of the game. We gave up two touchdowns in the first quarter and we gave up another one in the second and then we scored, and after that the guys woke up and started playing defence,” said Holloway. “I thought throughout the game we were pretty much evenly matched. We just didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had in the red zone (where) we were five times and only got one score out of it,” said Holloway. He added that within the 10-yard line there were a lot of dropped balls in the end zone. He also admits that a year of experience will help a lot of these players develop for next season. “A lot of guys on the team are sophomores and juniors, so that’s the whole nucleus of the team. We only got six to eight seniors that are actually graduating this year,” said Holloway. Overall, the team met all of their goals and will only develop more and become better for next season and possibly be atop the standings. “It was a good season, they met all their goals. They wanted to win at least one game this year, they won two,” said Holloway. “They were very competitive and were actually in all the games. The only game we were not competitive was the first game of the season against Medicine Hat.” The Spartans can look at this season as a positive step in the right direction because most of the teams are graduating their seniors and they will have most of them returning. Holloway is planning to return for his second season as head coach. As for the peewee Spartans, they had to play catch-up against Rocky Mountain House as they were down 20-0 to begin the game. “It was our toughest challenge yet, for the first time this year we fell behind by more than one touchdown. At one point we were losing 20-0, just missing tackles and early turnovers,” said Clinton Bean. The passing game ended up being pivotal in the come-back. “We managed to catch up with our passing game. Riley Gallant scored two receiving touchdowns. We trailed 20-14 at the half and Rocky Mountain had done a great job scouting our team and shutting down the run,” said Bean. “Good thing we are not a one dimensional team. The defense locked up and only allowed one more touchdown allowing us to stay in the game.” The Spartans went on a 16-6 run in the second half to win 30-26 and have a perfect regular season at 6-0. “We have home playoff advantage throughout the playoffs. The kids worked hard all year and earned it. Today we showed character and heart,” said Bean. Kickoff for the bantams will be at 1:30 p.m. and the peewees play at 3:30 in Strathmore.