Rodeo attracts sell-out crowds

By Bruce Campbell
sports reporter

By Bruce Campbell
sports EdiTor

The Holy Trinity Academy Knights provincial championship run was stopped by a perennial power.
The Cochrane Cobras beat the Knights 39-30 to win the Southern Alberta Tier III High School Football Championship Saturday in Cochrane.
The Cobras went into the locker room at halftime with a narrow 16-8 lead.
The Knights were unable to stop the Cobras in the third quarter as Cochrane scored on their first three possessions in the third quarter to take a 31-15 lead.
Knights head coach Matt Hassett took responsibility for the Cobras’ third-quarter outburst.
“I should have changed my defence earlier than I did,” Hassett said. “The Cobras noticed what we were doing right away and once I made the adjustments, we were able to stop them and get back in the game.”
It didn’t take HTA too long to get back into the game.
The Knights’ speedy Darion Strong cut into the Cobra’s 15-point lead when he took the kick-off, cut to the outside and went 87 yards to the end zone to cut the lead to 31-22.
On the Knights’ next drive they failed to convert on a third-and-five gamble and Cochrane took over on downs on the HTA 38-yard line.
If you gamble with a Cobra and lose, the results are deadly.
On Cochrane’s next drive Cobra slotback Curtis Norman took a direct snap on a third-and-two and ran it in for the touchdown to make it 39-22, after the successful two-point conversion.
HTA would cut the lead to 39-30 on a touchdown run by running back Jeff Hassler with 1:10 left in the game, but that would be as close as they would get.
The Knights had a chance to take an early lead when they took the opening kick-off and marched inside the Cobras’ 10-yard line. However, they failed to score when a third-and-goal pass from Mark Oness to slotback Charlie Power was incomplete.
“I wish I would have kicked the field goal and get some points on the board now,” Hassett said after the game, “But hindsight is always 20-20.”
The Cobras were ready for HTA.
Cobra offensive coordinator Rob McNab spent countless hours trying to decipher the Knights’ attack.
“I knew the Knights’ front seven was really tough,” McNab said. “Our only option was to pass. Justin (Cobras quarterback Fredrich) was fantastic today. He was finding receivers all over the field."
Knights outside linebacker Colton Schneider said the Cobras’ passing attack was effective.
“They seemed to always know where to throw the ball — they really got us a lot on the flats,” he said.
When Cochrane was not dinking and dunking its way up and down the field, the Cobras’ defence was trying to contain the Knights’ high-powered offence, in particular Hassler.
“You just hope he doesn’t get first downs every time he touches the ball,” Cobras defensive coach Bruce O’Neil said. “We wanted to stop him from making too many big plays.”
Hassler did get to the Cobras, though.
He scored the Knights’ first major when he streaked behind the Cobras defence and ran under a perfectly thrown Oness pass for a 93-yard touchdown.
“The Cobras were the best tacklers we have faced all year — this is the most sore I felt all year so they can definitely hit,” Hassler said on Sunday. “We were able to move the ball against them — we just missed some opportunities.
“Not scoring on the opening drive was a killer for us. We pounded the ball and established ourselves, but we couldn’t put it in.”
Hassett said he is proud of his team, which has gone further than any HTA team in the school’s history. They were ranked No. 1 the entire season and was the first Knights football team to win a provincial high school playoff game.
“This is the best team to ever wear the Knights’ jersey,” he said.
The Cobras, who have won five of the past six provincial titles, will now play Sylvan Lake for the championship this weekend in Edmonton.