The Foothills Falcons finally snuffed out some big cats’ nine lives.
And how.
The Falcons erupted for 28 unanswered points in the second half to put the Catholic Central Cougars away 49-14 in the Southern Alberta Tier II football semifinal Saturday at the Comp.
The Cougars were still alive at 21-14 at halftime despite having only two first downs in the opening 24 minutes.
“We gave them two touchdowns in the first half,” said Falcons head coach Darren Olson. “We had a pick six and a blocked punt. We have to eliminate those things as we go further in the playoffs.”
It turns out all the Falcons needed was a 12-minute halftime break to clear things up.
“In the second half we came out and controlled both sides of the ball and that made a big difference,” Olson said.
The Falcons were able to double things up at 28-14, as they took advantage of a Cougar penalty, which gave Foothills a first-and-10 at the Catholic Central 35.
Quarterback Trey Kellogg then hit slot back Brendan Lowry with back-to-back passes. The second a 19-yard toss to Lowry who went untouched into the end zone with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
Foothills took a commanding 21-point lead just a minute later when Daylon Creason took a hand-off from quarterback Tyson Pitcher and rambled in from 10 yards out.
It was a rare appearance for Creason, a defensive stalwart in the secondary, on the offensive side of the ball.
“They have me back there just in case Landon Rose or Payton Price get hurts,” said Creason, who was playing in his final game at the Comp. “It was fun, because I got to play a lot of offence in Bantam.”
The cougar-crushing drive had been kept alive when Pitcher took off up the middle for a 35-yard run on a second-and-20.
The first-year quarterback was just getting started.
He hit the man he replaced — Trey Kellogg — for a 23-yard TD pass to make it 42-14 early in the fourth quarter. Kellogg showed why he was signed by the UBC Thunderbirds as a receiver when he showed cat-like prowess in hurdling over a Cougar at the goal line.
The Pitcher-to-Kellogg team would strike again late in the fourth-quarter on a 15-yard TD to make the final 49-14.
The romp-like score was not indicative of the opening half.
Foothills got off to a fast start when Catholic Central fumbled the snap on their first play from scrimmage. Running back Payton Price would score four plays later on a nine-yard run to make it 7-0.
However, the turnover bug hit the Falcons.
Catholic Central’s Brady Collier read a Kellogg pass to the flats perfectly. He picked it off and ran 72-yards for the major to the game at sevens.
Foothills regained their seven-point lead when Kellogg went right back to the well and threw a pass to Coal Clark who made a super-glue catch in the second quarter.
The Falcons then got a quick pick six of their own.
Linebacker Tyler Going snared an errant pass and romped in for a 23-yard touchdown.
“They fumbled the snap when it was too high and I just followed the runningback,” Going said. “The quarterback was trying to get rid of the ball and when he threw it I was right there.”
However, the Cougars got new life when they blocked a punt with 1:04 left in the half for a first-down at the Foothills three-yard-line.
The Falcons stuffed the Cougars, but the drive stayed alive on a roughing the passer play to give Catholic Central new life — and a new set of downs — at the one-yard line.
Runningback Levi Takahashi then took it in to cut the lead to 21-14 at the half.
Cougars coach Anthony Vercillo said his team made too many mistakes and had trouble getting yardage.
“Defensively, Foothills is very strong and we just couldn’t move the ball,” he said. “Our defence played really well — I think we forced three interceptions — to give ourselves a chance despite not being able to move the ball.
“We gave ourselves a chance, but came up against a really good football team.”
The Falcons improved to 8-2 and will play the winner of the St. Mary’s Saints-Hunting Hills Lightning semifinal tilt. That game is Nov. 21 in either Calgary or Red Deer in the Southern Alberta Final. It is the third consecutive appearance for the Falcons in the Southern Alberta final.
The provincial final is Nov. 28 in Edmonton.
