Spartans zone qualifier position intercepted

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

Following a year of ups and downs, the Strathmore High School Spartans football team have shed their jerseys for the last time this season; and for 16 graduating team members, it is the last as they leave that football field for good.
Finishing third in their league with a 3-5 record in an extremely competitive league is no easy feat. But at the end of the day, the wind was too strong and the number of interceptions was too high for the local Spartans team to carry on to the quarter-finals in search of a provincials dream.
“There were a couple big plays that really shifted the momentum of the game … overall our defence played fairly well, our offence ran the ball quite a bit – for over 200 yards rushing – but we struggled throwing the ball; we threw five interceptions in the game which sort of led to our outcome,” said Spartans Head Coach Travis Gorski.
Following the loss of 14 points during the last two minutes of the second quarter, the Spartans lost 22-6 with the help of a sustained 30 kilometre per hour wind that inhibited either team from making many successful throws. The Spartans defence was able, however, to procure three interceptions against Rundle College at the provincial play-in game in Okotoks on Oct. 27.
“We played an extremely competitive league, so to finish third in the league just shows the boys had a successful season overall,” said Gorski who added throughout the year there were many “special individual plays by a lot of players that really stuck out throughout the season” and that “was definitely a highlight to watch.”
The 34-member team will be losing 16 teammates to graduation this year. Gorski said he is looking forward to training a new batch of Grade 9 students and developing the current Grade 10 and 11 players.
With football season over, the coaching staff is encouraging students to play multiple sports. Many of the players will be heading into basketball season as well as working on other sports. The school is trying to secure some turf time at the new fieldhouse once it opens, and coaches are also floating around the idea of starting a seven-on-seven flag football league in the spring where athletes can play games against each other twice a week.
“Right now, there is going to be a little stage of recovery because football is such a large commitment,” said Gorski.
The Spartans walked away from the league with several large awards, including five league all stars: Makel Holloway, Dustin Thiessen, Nathan Cayoutette, Noah Desjardins and Scott Dumur. Kevin Agboro won running back of the year and Dustin Thiessen won the commissioners award, having combined academic excellence as well as field performance.
“It was a season of ups and downs. We had one injury on the team all year and it was a key injury – we lost our quarterback to a broken collarbone – but it was awesome how so many of the kids stepped in and played different positions that they may have not been asked,” said Gorski. “We faced a lot of adversity this year, but we definitely came through it.”