The Foothills Falcons might have been rustier than Millie the Massey in their opening game of the high school football season on the weekend.

However, on the scoreboard the defending Tier II provincial champion Falcons shined with a convincing 49-0 victory over the Highwood Mustangs Friday night in High River.
“This is our first game and we had a lot of unforced errors, with a lot of repeat offenders,” Falcons coach Kevin Klotz. “There is a lot of potential on this team, and a lot of different guys got the ball …

A smaller camp has allowed the Okotoks Junior A Oilers’ coaching staff to have a stronger focus on the players trying to make the team’s 2010-2011 roster.
“We started with less than half the number of players at camp than we did last year,” said Okotoks Oilers coach Garry VanHereweghe. “I think with the smaller numbers the players can see the light at the end of the tunnel rather than when you have a 100 guys.”
The Oilers started camp on Aug. 24 and have played a pair of exhibition games with …

The offensive coordinator for the Holy Trinity Knights is practically walking on air in anticipation of the upcoming high school football season.

He has strong-armed quarterback Mark Oness returning for his senior year and an octopus-like corps of receivers — eight players with hands that can stretch out and snare a football.
“We are going to use a spread offence and we will throw the ball,” said Knights offensive coordinator Keith Schneider, who compared his offense to the pass-happy TCU Horned Frogs of the NCAA.
“We have a lot of good athletes …

The Foothills Eagles got off to a slow start in their opening game of the Calgary Bantam Football Association season.

Foothills was beaten 32-6 by the Wildcats Saturday in Calgary.
“We had a rough first game,” said Eagles coach Kelly Stickel. “The Wildcats were able to get three touchdowns early in the game to the same receiver.
“We had some early breakdowns in our secondary.”
The Eagles made some adjustments and were able to hold their own after the trio of Wildcats’ touchdowns.
Foothills’ lone touchdown came on a 30-yard catch-and-run play when quarterback Carson …

An Okotoks woman found the perfect recipe to battle her diabetes.
Just take one half decent pair of sneakers, a group of friends, one running nut for a husband and mix three or four times a week. Kathleen Ellum, 70, will be running the five-kilometre course in her fifth consecutive Sheep River Road Race this Labour Day at Foothills Composite High School.
“I was diagnosed a diabetic about six years ago and I was just 0.2 over the limit, but once you are classified as a diabetic you are a diabetic,” Ellum …

The King will have to slip this weekend in order for a High River area chuckwagon driver to retain his crown.

Jason Glass, the two-time defending World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) champion, sits in third place in the world standings with 1,101 points trailing Kelly “The King” Sutherland who sits in first at 1,235.5 points and Buddy Bensmiller is second at 1,148.5.
There are only four nights of racing left as the wagons roll into Edmonton for the Dodge Pro Tour finals Sept. 1-5 for Glass to chase down Sutherland. (The final …

The Esso Fun Day did more than spark an interest for Canada’s national sport in some girls in the Blackie area.

It was the genesis for one of the biggest hockey teams in the Blackie Minor Hockey Association this season.
The newly formed Blackie Peewee Girls Tigers will play in the Rocky Mountain Hockey League and Pat Minor said an Esso Fun Day last year in High River was the key to the formation of the Tigers.
“I don’t think we would have had a hockey team without the Esso Fun Day,” said …

A High River chuckwagon driver has been suspended for the remainder of this season after getting into a fight with another driver.

Brian Mayan did not compete in the Badlands Derby on Aug. 27-29 in Drumheller after being suspended by the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA). The 42-year-old chuckwagon driver was in an altercation with fellow driver Codey McCurrach of Eckville after a race in Rocky Mountain House on Aug. 20.
Mayan had to put down a horse after being involved in a crash in the race. McCurrach was penalized for wagon …

A quirk in the 2010 pro rodeo schedule has rodeo events scheduled in a span of five days and some local cowboys need to cash in as much as they can to qualify for the Canadian Finals.
Both the Armstrong and Merritt rodeos will coincide with the Okotoks Pro Rodeo Sept. 3-5 forcing saddle bronc rider Dustin Thompson to take flight in order to compete in all three events.
Thompson will be in British Columbia tonight for the opening day of the Armstrong rodeo, then he’ll zip back to Okotoks to ride …

On floor performance aside, the Okotoks Junior A Raiders team administration believes the experience they gained at the 2010 Minto Cup will go a long way to hosting the event in 2011.
Including team owner and president, David Fehr, two other members of the administration team went to B.C. to observe the job the Coquitlam Adanacs did as hosts.
Raiders vice-president Dennis Shute and Brian Wilson accompanied Fehr to critique aspects of the tournament and the way it was run.
“It was a tremendous experience for our young team and we think that …