It only sounds like a nightmare.
But responding to a loud wake-up call and winding up in Edmonton is a dream for the Foothills Falcons.
Foothills advanced to the Tier II high school football finals by routing the Hunting Hills Lightning 45-0 Saturday in the Southern Alberta championship at Great Chief Park in Red Deer.
“This is the best feeling, we came up short in the final two years ago and I’ve been dreaming about a provincial final for our high school,” said Falcons senior defensive back Daylon Creason. “I’m happy to be going back – hopefully this year we can finish it.”
The Falcons will play the undefeated Grande Prairie’s St. Joseph Celtic for the provincial title Nov. 28 in Edmonton.
Creason was a member of a defence that took the spark out of the Lightning’s attack in Red Deer.
“Our defence was dominating — the first half we had at least four turnovers,” said Falcons head coach Darren Olson. “They (Hunting Hills) couldn’t get any kind of rhythm on offence.”
Olson called Creason “a beast” on defence.
“We just game planned that they were going to run the ball and when they passed we were ready for it,” Creason said. “Our coaches got us ready.”
The Falcons defence got things rolling for Foothills.
Foothills initially had a two-and-out in their opening drive. However, the Big D forced a fumble and the Falcons had the ball in Lightning territory.
The Falcons responded with quarterback Trey Kellogg taking in the major with a bootleg from 30 yards out nine minutes into the first quarter.
Kellogg would hit receiver Coal Clark with 4:50 left in second quarter to put Foothills up by 14. The Falcons would add a three-yard TD run by Kellogg and Seth Nelson’s 18-yard field goal to take a 24-0 lead at halftime.
The strong-armed Kellogg would throw three catch-and run TDs in the second half for the 45-0 victory. Clark, Brendan Lowry and the speedster Mwambi Chali were on the receiving ends of Kellogg’s TD tosses.
“We were really able to spread the ball around,” Kellogg said.
Although the Falcons led 24-0 at half, the fact Foothills let a 14-0 half-time lead to Medicine Hat in last year’s Southern Alberta final slip away was a reminder to keep the foot on the gas pedal.
“We were in a similar situation last year at halftime and we had the message to finish in the locker-room this year,” said Falcons slotback/d-back Brendan Lowry. “All the Grade 11s and 12s remember that feeling, so this year we made sure to finish.”
The trip to Edmonton will come four weeks after the Falcons were shocked by the Rundle Cobras 25-22 in the Big Rock Conference final on Oct. 30.
“Rundle was a wake-up call for our guys,” Olson said. “They know now they have to play their best and practice their best. They have done that. They are a pretty motivated group right now.”
And how.
Since that loss, the Falcons have won three consecutive playoff games — outscoring their opponents 143-28 — to punch their ticket to Edmonton.
The Falcons playoff run has come without the services of All Big Rock runningback Landon Rose. Creason and rookie Payton Price have ably filled Rose’s shoes for the past three games.
Rose may be back for the final.
The Falcons have been to the Tier II final seven times since 1986, winning four times.
Kick-off for the 2015 final is 2:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Foote Field in the Capital.
