Big Sky Country is in the Cochrane area.
Bow Valley put a stranglehold on the mythical Big Sky Rugby Union high school boys title by downing the Holy Trinity Academy Knights 24-5 May 10 in HTA.
“They are for real — they beat both us and the Comp,” said Knights coach Jim Ryan. “And Bow Valley has some big kids — they are beasts.”
The loss dropped the Knights to 2-2 in the Big Sky.
The victory was the third this season for Bow Valley against the always-strong Okotoks schools. Bow Valley — a combined team from Bow Valley and Cochrane high schools — also beat HTA in the first game of the season and nipped the Foothills Falcons 15-14 in late April.
“We like to get games against Foothills and HTA, it just makes us better,” said Bow Valley coach Karl Bauer. “This may be the best team we have ever had — at least it is for the past five or six years.
“We have a group of kids that are able to control the ball and the game and that really helps us as we bring the younger players along.”
Bow Valley is a combination of power and speed, led by the smarts, as well as the deft hands and feet of fly half Rylen Waugh.
“He played men’s last year and he just runs the whole show,” Ryan said. “He is just dictating everything from their forwards to their backs.”
HTA would have needed a full contingent to give Bow Valley a run, but there were a few Knights short at the round-table.
Grade 12 stalwarts John Buck is still out with an injury, as are Luc Leslie and the workhorse Evan Bruynzeel.
“The kids that we have, I told them at the end of the game that the effort was there — I was super-proud of the effort,” Ryan said. “The execution lacked a little at times. You bring in some guys who are kind of learning, they aren’t going to execute as well if those veteran guys are in.
“But I was super-happy with the effort… We’re just really young in our back-line right now.”
It was the Knights, however, who got on the board first. After Bow Valley controlled much of the play, Knights back Adam Dielissen found a hole and was able to put it deep into the opposition’s end.
HTA’s Kody Palin steamrolled to about eight-yards out of the try zone and then pitched to Gareth Key who went in for the score to make it 5-0.
The lead was short-lived as Bow Valley’s Thomas Cameron scored his first of three trys to tie the game at 5-5 before the half.
The second half was all Bow Valley.
Bow Valley jumped out to a 12-5 lead when six-foot-three Dylan Gingrich-Hadley smashed through the Knights for the try.
Cameron would add two more trys for Bow Valley to make the final 24-5.
One of those high-effort Knights was Grade 12 prop Brenden Fleet, who received high-praise from Ryan.
“Their scrum was nothing short of fantastic,” Fleet said of Bow Valley. “Tons of credit to them.”
He said the Knights never gave up.
“We were right there for two-thirds of the game – it was a hard-fought game,” Fleet said. “We know that if we can put in the effort and execute, will be able to give the Comp a pretty good run next week.”
Oh yeah, the Comp.
Although neither of the Okotoks schools will win the Big Sky, the Comp and the Foothills Falcons will square off in Round 1 of the rivalry game May 18 at the Comp at 6:30 p.m.
The Falcons are 4-1 in the Big Sky after downing the Springbank Phoenix 38-12 May 9 in Springbank.
Round 2 of the Rivalry Game is June 1.
