Spartans lose key player in weekend win

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

The Strathmore High School Spartans got back to their winning streak on Oct. 5, beating Pincher Creek 35-7 on the road with a fast start and solid defense.
Despite losing starting quarterback Noah Desjardin in the third quarter after a tackle broke his collarbone, the Spartans are moving forward from their victory.
“I think overall we played a pretty good game,” said Spartans captain Dustin Thiessen. “We had a lot of young guys in and this gave them some good experience.”
At the beginning of the game, everything looked to be going right for the Spartans as they came out flying, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter to lead 21-0. According to Spartans Head Coach Travis Gorski, everything was going right on offence in the first quarter. The team slowed down in the second quarter but maintained their lead as they headed into the third quarter.
On the very first drive of the third quarter, Desjardin rushed the ball forward before he was tackled. Gorski said Desjardin fell awkwardly and broke his right collarbone, which will knock him out for the last regular season game and any playoff games the club might play.
Fellow veteran Thiessen was forced to step up and become the new Spartans quarterback which he did by completing his teammates to drive for the touchdown.
“I just thought we need to keep the offence moving and to rely on some of the other offensive weapons that we have,” said Thiessen.
Desjardin scored two rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown to Cooper Nelson before he went down. Thiessen scored one passing touchdown to Nick Heaton, and Dalton Goertz added a rushing touchdown. Spartans kicker Scott Dumur was a perfect five-for-five on the day.
The Spartans will wrap up their regular season at Strathmore High School on Oct. 12 with kickoff at 4 p.m. against the strong Holy Trinity Academy from Okotoks. Gorski expects it to be a very tough game because Holy Trinity Academy is in a higher tier than Strathmore High School.
“It’s tough as a team to go into the final regular season game having to essentially rethink the offence, and move some pieces around and change our strategy with offence going forward,” said Gorski. “We have a ton of good players on the team, a ton of smart players, and it’ll just be up to the next person to step up.”