For the first time in their illustrious history the Foothills Falcons are back to back champs. The Falcons won their second straight Alberta Bowl Tier II high school football championship at the expense of the St.
For the first time in their illustrious history the Foothills Falcons are back to back champs.
The Falcons won their second straight Alberta Bowl Tier II high school football championship at the expense of the St. Joe's Celtics in a 37-4 triumph Friday Night at Calgary's Hellard Field.
"This means a lot. We pride ourselves on playing hard and working hard," said Falcons Grade 12 defensive back Ben Tighe. "This is always our end goal every year and the fact we got to do it back-to-back for the first time in school history that's pretty amazing."
The Comp romped to a 69-15 win over the Celtics one year ago in the Bowl final.
While last year's final was a downright blowout, the repeat bid was considerably more workmanlike.
"We knew they were going to be a tough team," said Falcons head coach Darren Olson. "I think we were in the heads a bit from last year and we wanted to get on them right away. We had rough play penalties in the first five minutes of the game which you definitely don't want, but it was physical, aggressive play."
Foothills used special teams to get on the board as Seth Nelson's perfect sideline punt pinned the Celtics at their one-yard line leading to a safety just three plays later.
Setting the early physical tone was Ben Tighe. The defensive back/receiver laid out a Celtic on a devastating block which fired up the Falcons despite the subsequent penalty. Younger brother Jacob Tighe then charged his way into a brilliant evening at linebacker on a backfield tackle forcing a Celtics two-and-out.
The Foothills offence then took the ball and ran with it.
Following a grinding drive led by the two-pronged running attack of Payton Price and Payton Burbank, Ben Tighe got the Falcons in the red-zone on a diving catch in traffic.
The Falcons didn't score on the drive, but the offensive had clearly found its mojo.
They wouldn't miss on their next swing.
Another key reception by Ben Tighe and a Burbank run got the Falcons down near the goal-line where quarterback Tyson Pitcher finished the drive with a one-yard rumble into the end-zone. He then hooked up through the air with Grade 10 receiver Keaton Neish for a successful two-point conversion.
St. Joes responded with its best drive of the half as the club found its way into the red-zone for the first time leading to a 29-yard field goal.
Foothills wasn't quite done putting its imprint on the half.
Price and Burbank again combined to march the Falcons down field leading to Burbank's first of two majors on a five-yard scamper.
The Celtics looked to be in position to add at least a field goal prior to halftime before Foothills defensive back Alex Ferguson made a timely interception to close the half.
"Being a smaller team we had to be more physical," said Falcons linebacker Tyler Going. "This game we came out super aggressive and that helped us a lot to get the lead."
Following a Celtic rouge early in the third quarter, the Falcons found themselves back in the end-zone.
With Foothills marching backwards on a penalty call, they made up the yardage and then some when Burbank followed his blocks and burst free for a 70-yard touchdown run.
"Our backs and our blocking were unbelievable," said Burbank, a Grade 10 student. "We weren't going for a huge play, but I just ended up in the middle and I had one guy riding me up. I broke it and it was wide open just green grass."
Nelson knocked in a pair of field goals to add to the advantage. Then the Celtics were on the verge of cutting into the deficit with a sustained drive only to have Jacob Tighe come up with a knockdown in the end-zone and an interception on consecutive plays.
"My mindset is this is not my final year. I have two years ahead of me and I can put my body on the line," Jacob said. "I can get injured and heal up so I don't have any regrets hitting anybody."
Going put an exclamation point on the victory on a meandering 62 yard touchdown run in the final two minutes of the contest.
"I went to the wrong hole and it wasn't open and I just cut back and luckily there were three blockers," Going said. "We had really good down field blocking. That was my team, not really me."
The Alberta Bowl doesn't have official MVPs, but if it did freshman Jacob Tighe was as good a candidate as any as a physical force in the open field, in coverage in the secondary and on special teams.
The Tighe brothers capped a memorable season together as key cogs in the provincial final.
"This is the first time we've played together our whole lives," Ben said. "To be on the same field at all is cool and now we got to make it this far."
Foothills now has six Tier II provincial football banners to its credit having previously won the title in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2015.
"I'm really happy for the kids. Three years ago we lost a tough one and they re-grouped," Olson said. "Our Grade 12 guys were our leaders this year. They set the tone at practice, they set the tone at games, they were positive role models for our young kids.
"In the 2000s we won four provincials and to get a back-to-back, something that hasn't been done before, is exciting and something these guys will remember for a long time."
Looking into the not so distant future, this Falcons team should be positively loaded for another run at a banner with several key contributors eligible to return.
"We have 30 or 31 kids here tonight that we have back next year," the coach added. "You don't look ahead too much, but it's hard not to think of trying to go for three in a row."
