Bantam Badgers improve win record

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The Great Wall of China couldn’t have protected the Strathmore Community Football Association bantam Badgers end zone any better than their defensive unit did in the final three minutes.
The Badgers slammed the door on three straight red zone possessions to domesticate the Olds Bulldogs 18-12 in Central Football League action Oct. 1 at a misty Crowther Memorial Junior High School Field.
“Our D stepped up to the plate and proved something today,” said Badgers head coach Brad Middlemiss. “They were big when we needed them to be. They got stops that we needed so badly.”
The Badgers (2-1) were led all afternoon on defense by their swarming linebacker Riley Southern. Southern recorded 16 tackles and was stapling Bulldogs to the turf.
“That’s a pretty typical game for Riley. He’s a beast, super fast and he has great sights to what is going on out there,” said Middlemiss. “He’s our superstar on defence.”
However, when the Badgers needed their best defender the most, he wasn’t on the field. He was removed from the game with 2:01 remaining after taking what looked to be another shot to the head. This was the second time he was removed due to injury precaution.
Bulldogs bench players began to whisper and sheepishly grin knowing the path to the promised land seemed exceptionally easier with southern sidelined.
The Bulldogs trailed 18-12 with 4:36 remaining and had three different possessions inside the red zone. They couldn’t crack the Badgers goal line stand. The closest they got was when running back Lucas Mulholland took a pitch to the left and saw daylight between himself and the goal line.
Middlemiss’ defence swarmed and tackled him just shy of the end zone at the two-yard line.
“I think we got screwed,” shouted Bulldogs assistant coach Scott Layden. “We thought we had a touchdown, then the refs changed their mind and then we didn’t agree with their placement of the spot either.”
At first glance, the ref did signal a Bulldog touchdown. After meeting with the other officials, the refs placed the ball on the two-yard line, resulting in a turnover on downs – Badger ball.
While the defence saved the game late, the ground and pound, one-two punch combination of Luke Henry and Angelina Palardy carried the offensive load.
“We knew with such a wet field that we were going to have to run the ball a lot today,” said Middlemiss.
Henry busted off a pair of touchdown runs, including a 66-yard TD carry. Palardy was constantly pounding the ball through the heart of the Bulldogs’ defence.
Quarterback Nicolas Heaton scored the other touchdown on a three-yard quarterback sneak during the opening drive.
“I coached Angelina in peewee, she’s a beast and hard to bring down up the middle,” said Middlemiss. “Luke brings speed, effort and doesn’t stop. His YAC (yards after catch) is impressive. He just runs and runs and runs.”
The Badgers have a bye week and will resume play Oct. 15, on the road in Innisfail.

 

Peewee Badgers still undefeated
The peewee Badgers (4-0) had trouble moving the ball against the Lacombe Explosion defensive line, but once they did break free onto the slower secondary unit, they capitalized.
“We had trouble marching the field. We couldn’t get any small five-yard plays to work. All of our scoring was done on plays 20 yards or longer,” said Badgers head coach Doug Theissen.
The Badgers bumped the Explosion 34-6 Saturday (Oct. 1) in rainy Lacombe.
After being backed up three times on three straight illegal procedure penalties, Theissen dialed up an unusual play call for third down with 15 yards to go from his own 15-yard line.
“It’s not a typical spot for that call and we did have trouble running the ball that day. I just thought if our quarterback kept it, that provided us an extra blocker with our running back,” said Theissen. “We use a lot of motion in our offence, so I had both slotbacks come over along with the running back and we were able to pick up enough blocks.”
The quarterback in charge of the sneak was Brady Johansen. He picked up the first down and more, much more. Johansen stormed 90 yards to the house.
Daniel Barbas registered a pair of TD’s and Dawson Jensen weaved his way into the end zone as well.
Up next for the Badgers will be their tallest task thus far, maybe even a championship preview. The Sylvan Lake Bears also sit 4-0 and have been clobbering teams by 20 or more points.
“We are going to prepare big time for this one,” said Theissen. “We need to have good, intense practices with the correct mindset to fix some of our smaller issues. We had a little bit of a problem with ball control in the rain. We fumbled a few snaps and that will cost us against a team like [Sylvan].”
The undefeated bowl takes place 11:30 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 8) at CMHJS field.

 

Senior Badgers game Saturday
The senior Badgers (3-0-1) had the weekend off on a bye and pick up this Saturday (Oct. 8) at 2 p.m. when they host the Carstairs Tigers at CMJHS field.