Spartans tame Cobras

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Plays are being made on both sides of the ball for the Strathmore High School Spartans and the wins are beginning to follow.
After returning to the rebranded Big Rock League (BRL), the Spartans engaged in a defensive battle with the Rundle College Cobras and came out on top with a 15-7 victory Sept. 21 in Calgary.
First, it was the defence.
After the defence forced a quick two-and-out, the Cobras dropped back to punt deep in their end zone. That’s when the Spartans got a strong push through the offensive line and sacked the punter for the safety.
“The kids took it on themselves that game. We have great Grade 12 leadership and we fixed a lot of the alignment issues from the two previous weeks. They bought in, did their jobs and made some plays,” said Mitch Bates, the Spartans new defensive coordinator.
With the ensuing kickoff, the Spartans kept the momentum, drove down the field and punched it in on their second drive of the game thanks to a designed quarterback run from Noah Desjardins from five yards out.
The second-year quarterback is beginning to feel at home under centre, as he chucked the pigskin for 200 yards and scampered for 80 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“I’ve really focused on reading the plays better. I’ve focused more on my passing at practice and try to do a better job at finding the open man whenever possible,” said Desjardins, a Grade 12 student.
With the Spartans in front 9-0 with a few minutes to go in the first half, their discipline faltered, and a couple penalties extended a late quarter drive by the Cobras that resulted in a touchdown.
“The kid made a great catch for their touchdown. I told our guys at half that there was nothing we could do about it now, but to focus on shutting them out in the second half. They made that their mindset and came out and dominated the second half,” said Bates, who played college ball for the Mount Allison Mounties. “They came out and played super aggressive. We had guys making plays all over. They trusted one another and focused on getting the job done.”
While the defence held the Cobras down, Desjardins was able to lead another lengthy drive, this time in the fourth quarter.
With the ball on the Cobras’ one-yard line, Desjardins called his own number and dove into the end zone on the quarterback sneak.
With the win, the Spartans moved to 1-1 in the BRL and 1-0 in exhibition games, meaning they will now be in the discussion for a provincial championship.
There are still three more weeks in the regular season, but the Spartans have already qualified for a provincial play-in game or a provincial quarterfinal game. With half the season still up for grabs, where the Spartans will fall in the provincial picture is still to be determined.
The Spartans will wrap up their three-game road trip in Drumheller Sept. 29 when they take on the Drumheller Valley Secondary School Dynos.