There was plenty of Okotoks area pride on the U18 men's rugby national champions. Three members of the Foothills Lions were on the Alberta Wolf Pack, which downed B.C. 29-26 in the final at the Canada Rugby Championships in Calgary Sunday.
There was plenty of Okotoks area pride on the U18 men's rugby national champions.
Three members of the Foothills Lions were on the Alberta Wolf Pack, which downed B.C. 29-26 in the final at the Canada Rugby Championships in Calgary Sunday.
Lions product Michael McTighe put the Pack ahead to stay at 29-26 with a 74-yard try with five minutes remaining to cap off a nine-point comeback.
“Thomas (Isherwood) passed it out to me and I made a cut inside,” McTighe said. “I had support on my wing and I knew I had it and then I went wide.
“The power of the crowd screaming just gave me the energy to pull it off.”
Isherwood is also a Foothills Lion. He proved that he can run as well as dish off perfect laterals.
Isherwood gave Alberta a brief 17-12 lead early in the second half when he had a try of 70-plus yards.
“I started running down the field, I jumped past one guy and I went to pass to Johnny Buck, but I ended up stiff arming this guy and went in to score,” Isherwood said. “It was great to have Johnny's support. We tricked the defender. The defender kind of slipped on to him (Buck) and that gave me the gap.”
Isherwood knows all about Buck. He played with the wing as a 13-year-old with the Lions. As well, the two have squared off against each other – Isherwood is a Foothills Falcon, Buck a Holy Trinity Academy Knight.
But on Sunday, they were in the same pack trying to hunt down a title.
“I made sure that the B.C. winger was lined up and concentrating on me so Thomas had the gap to shoot up,” Buck said. “I ran the whole time with him giving support. I was ecstatic when he scored.”
Buck nearly had a try of his own. In the final minute of the first half, it appeared Buck had touched the ball down in the corner of the tryzone. However, it was ruled his foot was out of bound before the touch.
As for his ecstasy over Isherwood's try, it didn't last long.
B.C. would take advantage on an Alberta miscue on the ensuing kick-off and were able to punch the ball in. The convert gave B.C. a 19-17 lead.
The Wolf Pack was facing a Three Little Pigs like brick wall when B.C. added another try to make it 27-16 midway through the second half.
However, these wolves had a second wind.
Alberta's Juma Amisi scampered from the outside and reached past the try-line to cut the lead to 26-22 with 12 minutes remaining.
Then minutes later McTighe scored his breathtaking, championship try.
The Wolf Pack opened the scoring on a seven-yard try by McTighe, who took a feed from Isherwood approximately 10 minutes into the game.
They have developed a chemistry over the past season.
“We are good friends off the field and it builds into the game,” McTighe said. “We just work well together.” His pal agreed.
“We met at Sevens Nationals in March and in one of our tryouts, I kicked a kickoff and he ran down and got it,” Isherwood said, who now has won bronze, silver and gold medals at nationals. “Since that moment we have just clicked.”
Alberta would have a 12-5 lead at the half.
B.C would tie the game early in the second stanza at 12-12, before Isherwood gave Alberta the brief lead at 17-12.
The third Lion on the Alberta squad was Mitchell Newman from the Blackie area.
“This is my first year making Alberta and this is really exciting to me,” said Newman, a flanker. “This tournament helped me a lot. I am really proud.”
He's also got bragging rights at home.
Dad Roy Newman won a silver medal at provincials for Team Alberta. Not bad, but not up to the kid's standards.
“I guess I beat the Old Man,” Mitch said with a laugh.
Alberta squeaked into the semifinals. They opened the tournament with a convincing 41-21 victory on Aug. 15 but were then rocked by Newfoundland 30-21 on Thursday.
With a 1-1 record in pool play, the Pack got into the semifinal on points, just getting by Ontario.
They then downed Newfoundland in the semifinal on Friday to earn a shot at BC for the title.
Isherwood was tied with Ontario's Will Abbott for the tournament scoring lead with 27 points going into Sunday's final.
The three members of the Lions on the Wolf Pack won't have much time to celebrate.
The Foothills Lions play the Canucks — with Johnny Buck — for the Southern Alberta title Tuesday at the Calgary Rugby Union.
