The Foothills Falcons are making a habit of proving their doubters wrong.
Despite considerable roster turnover in the offseason due to graduation the Falcons advanced to their second straight Tier II Alberta Bowl by dispatching the Hunting Hills Lightning 35-14 Saturday in a convincing South Final triumph in Okotoks.
“It means everything. Especially being discounted at the start of the year,” said Falcons Grade 12 linebacker Keaton Goossen. “We had all that talent that left and we’re really proving ourselves out there. A lot of people were saying stuff like we were not going to go back, not even going to make it to playoffs.
“For the Grade 12s this gives us a second shot at it.”
The chance to repeat as provincial champions comes against a familiar foe as Foothills takes on the reigning provincial silver medallists St. Joseph Celtics out of Grande Prairie in the Alberta Bowl on Nov. 25 in Calgary. Foothills crushed St. Joe’s in the 2015 Bowl Final by a 69-15 count.
“We have such a good group of Grade 12 guys,” said Falcons head coach Darren Olson. “Sometimes they do goofy things, but they’re leaders and they’re good kids and they want to represent their school well.
“I’m proud of them and excited for them to have that opportunity.”
The opportunity was borne out of a second half surge at the expense of the Lightning.
Once again the defensive unit was the pacesetter in the provincial semifinal.
The first-half was largely a battle of field position as the Falcons offence struggled to find an early rhythm while the Lightning showed itself to be more threatening early.
Only a friendly bounce off the posts on an attempted field goal kept the visitors off the scoreboard early in the second quarter.
“They were taking it to us in the first quarter. They were pretty aggressive defensively and very physical on us,” Olson said. “They’re always well coached and it’s always a tough game against them.”
The Falcons offence kicked into high-gear following the missed field goal. Mixing the run and pass effectively, Foothills finally got into scoring position following key scampers from
Payton Burbank, Payton Price and receptions from Ben Tighe and Tyler Going.
Tyson Pitcher capped the grinding drive with a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line to open the scoring before halftime.
“Defence kept us in the game for a long time, they were doing awesome,” Pitcher said. “Then we were able to get some momentum and get some drives on them.”
Foothills increased its advantage shortly after the break on a missed field goal that went through the end-zone, a place it would find itself again minutes later.
Going picked off a floater at midfield from Hunting Hills quarterback Brandon Rees to give the offence terrific field position. Then, on a third and eight gamble, Pitcher found Grade 10 receiver Tyson Hartle for a 28-yard touchdown connection.
Another turnover forced by the Falcons defence led directly to a major. On the final play of the third quarter former volleyball player Tyler Ziehl showed his hops to leap up and pick off Rees on the defensive line.
“It was really about stopping (Eric Thomson) from running,” Goossen said. “We knew they had a few key players that we needed to stop in order to slow down their offence.”
Foothills’ offence made the most of the play, as Price capped an impressive drive by taking a pitch in the backfield and throwing it to a diving Burbank for a 15-yard major.
Down but not out, the Lightning gave its travelling fans something to talk about when Austin Schneider returned the ensuing kick-off to the house to get the visitors on the board.
Foothills responded almost immediately when Pitcher scrambled out of the pocket and hit Burbank for the slotback’s second touchdown of the afternoon.
Price capped the offensive outburst with a brilliant 71 yard run to the end-zone as he charged down the right sideline and cutback across the field leaving Lightning defenders in his dust.
Thomson earned a small measure of consolation late on a quarterback scramble to give Hunting Hills its first offensive touchdown of the contest.
Far too little, too late.
“Starting slow, sometimes it’s not a bad thing as long as you can learn from it,” Olson said. “I think that’s what has happened to us the last four weeks, we’ve started slow and coaches have made adjustments and that’s what wins games for us.”
Now the Falcons have a chance to enter the history books.
Despite its prolific playoff performances over the years, the five-time provincial champions have never won back-to-back titles.
That’s up for grabs on Friday.
“It’s a beautiful thing to be able to have a chance at back-to-back,” Pitcher said. “And we’re going to try out best.”
The Tier II Alberta Bowl is set for a 7 p.m. kick-off at Calgary’s Hellard Field on Nov. 25.
For more information go to footballalberta.ab.ca
