Highly anticipated MVFC finals rematch

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

Quarterback Reid Jensen turned in a performance straight from Madden NFL 17 to lift the Strathmore Community Football Association senior Badgers to the Mountain View Football Conference championship game.
The Badgers battered the Didsbury Dragons 63-0 Oct. 29 at Crowther Memorial Junior High School (CMJHS) field.
“Reid has really excelled in the open field this year,” said Badgers head coach Sean Seafoot. “We have a lot of plays where we move the pocket and if the contain gets broken to one side, our plan is to throw or usually pick up a five-yard run. He was able to pick up a lot more than five yards.”
Jensen had all the moves working; the hesitation, cut backs, spin moves, juke-steps, slithering out of tackles, completely reversing to the other side of the field and most importantly, the getaway speed.
“We had a lot of great blocking down the field today. Guys had their heads up, the o-line and receivers did a great job blocking for me,” said the 15-year-old Jensen, who finished with five rushing touchdowns, three passing touchdowns and a successful two-point convert.
Jensen connected with one of his favourite targets, Alex Nwoye, for a pair of receiving touchdowns, totalling 27 yards.
“Alex is really quick and he has played really well for us this year considering it is his first year playing football,” said Seafoot. “His older brother, Charles, won the Vanier Cup for UBC last season and that really sparked his interest in the sport.”
With a forfeited game last week and a bye in week 8, this marked the Badgers first game in three weeks and it showed early.
The Badgers surrendered an opening drive TD and only led 12-8 after the first quarter. They also had five touchdowns called back because of penalties.
“The bye weeks added up against us I think. We had a bunch of hiccups in the first quarter. There were too many mistakes. I guess it kept guys on their toes a little bit, but we don’t want to see that again,” said Seafoot.
Because of a last minute rule change, the MVFC championship game will be played in Innisfail, Nov. 5, against the Cyclones. The two teams finished the season tied at 5-0-1. The Cyclones and Badgers teamed up for the most thrilling game of the season, which saw the Badgers rally down 16 with 2:26 left to tie the game thanks to a pair of two-point converts and an onside kick recovery.

 

Peewee Badgers blank Rebels
The peewee Badgers stymied teams all season and carried their steel curtain defence into the playoffs, as they blanked the Rocky Mountain House Rebels 37-0 Oct. 29 at CMJHS field.
The Badgers only yielded three touchdowns all season and recorded two shutouts.
“Our D plays contain to shutdown the running plays to the outside, so our linemen can go up the middle. There, you’ve taken away two of their options. Teams will then try and pass on us and we are comfortable playing in coverage and shut them down there too,” said Badgers head coach Doug Thiessen. “Our defence is our super strength.”
With their defence on lock, the Badgers offence looked more evolved than it did in week 1. Quarterback Brady Johansen was dialed in with his number one target Noel Langlois. Langlois hauled in four passes for 41 yards and one touchdown.
“We had almost 90 yards of passing in the first half; you just don’t see that in peewee much,” said Thiessen.
Running through the season undefeated (5-0), Thiessen was still apprehensive minutes before kickoff.
“I’m absolutely thrilled. It was my biggest fear all week, coming into today undefeated and coming out flat. But, they came out aggressive today and came out to win right from the start,” said Thiessen, who has been part of a coaching staff to carry an undefeated team into the playoffs four previous times and failed to advance to provincials.
The Badgers earned the right for the provincial title to run through CMJHS field, granted they keep on winning. Next, the Badgers host the Red Deer Hornets Nov. 5 (3 p.m.) in the CPWFL finals. The Badgers dusted the Hornets 28-6 back on Week 3.

 

Bantam Badgers shut out
The bantam Badgers were shut out in their playoff opener, 34-0 to Lacombe. Now, they will head to Rocky Mountain House to take on the Rebels for third place. The Rebels downed the Badgers 52-32 back on Week 3.