You can tell a lot about a team by how it manages a game in the late stages – if it can seal the deal.
Nursing a four-point lead with 98 seconds to go in their May 22 Calgary Area Midget Football Association (CAMFA) Division 2 semifinal against Calgary Wildcats, the Cochrane Lions left no doubt.
Quarterback Des Catellier churned out 12 yards on a second-down scramble to give the Lions a fresh set of clock-killing downs. Running back Scott Haigh, who’d been fighting the ball most of the game, made a clutch, eight-yard second-down catch for another fresh set of downs with just under a minute to go. Flyin’ Hawaiian fullback Makani Clapson put in the dagger with a gritty four-yard, second-down run for another first down. Game over, with the Lions kneeling on the ball at the final whistle. Lions 28, Wildcats 24 – and Cochrane dressed 20 fewer players than Calgary.
It was Cochrane’s second-straight CAMFA win following 20-straight losses spanning three seasons. Cochrane faces Calgary Hilltoppers in the CAMFA Division 2 final tonight (May 29) at Shouldice Park, Hellard Field, 7 p.m. kickoff.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Lions linebacker Austin Yersel. “It’s so exciting.”
Lineman Justin Sambu was equally stoked about the win and advancing to tonight’s Div. 2 final.
“Definitely. I’m excited about that. We’ve only won two games in the last three years. This is big,” the Cochrane High School Cobras Grade 10 said.
“This is huge. We’re going to try to watch game film, focus up and practice hard to try and win the championship.”
It won’t come easy. The Hilltoppers won their May 22 semi 41-13 over Big Rock Bengals of Okotoks. Big Rock beat Cochrane 42-27 on May 8. Cochrane hasn’t played Hilltoppers this season.
The Lions have to erase the errors that made their win over Wildcats more difficult. Head coach Jud Graham doesn’t want to see illegal-formation calls or guys lining up in the neutral zone in the final.
“Those drive you crazy. But they happen,” Graham related. “I think part of that is butterflies. Part of that is we had a couple of guys playing positions they hadn’t played before. We had guys playing defensive line who hadn’t played D-line before. So that stuff happens.”
Graham has been juggling his already-lean roster with the loss of players like lineman Case Braun (lower body) and receiver Evan Perrault (lower body).
Devin Smith caught two touchdowns for Cochrane against Wildcats. Catellier pitched those TDs (one a highlight-reel, 55-yard catch-and-run by Smith), ran for another and booted two field goals.
Grid Bits – Selected to the Alberta U18 team as a placekicker, Catellier, who plays high-school ball at Calgary’s St. Francis, now draws into the quarterback position as Notre Dame’s Colton Hunchak was called up to Team Canada. . . . Cochrane Cobras linebacker Mac Chaisson is also playing for Team Alberta U18 this year at July’s Football Canada Cup in Saskatoon. . . . Cobras lineman Dale Cummings was named Senior Bowl’s most-valuable offensive lineman. Cummings starts his university football career in the fall with the University of Montana-Northern.
