The Bow Valley High School Bobcats fell into a viper pit in Claresholm and came home with a bad case of snake bite.
The Willow Creek Composite High School Cobras blanked the visiting Bobcats 51-0 in provincial Tier 4 high school football quarterfinal play Nov. 9, ending Bow Valley’s season.
It was an abrupt turnaround from Bow Valley’s 51-6 playoff win over High River’s Highwood Mustangs the previous week. But the Willow Creek Cobras were bringing too much venom.
“They’re a big team,” observed Bow Valley defensive coordinator Mike Dang, who was pressed into the head coach’s role for the game when Scott Allard was unable to attend. “They’re pretty strong in all areas, defensively and offensively.”
The Bobcats were trying to get rolling on offence, with starting quarterback Zach Kibzey throwing and handing off to running back Scott Haigh. But the Cobras were just swarming to the ball all over the field. And Willow Creek’s offence was dialed in.
“We prepared hard for this. But it came down to the little plays and the execution,” Dang related. “They beat us on the one-one-one games. We were unable to contain their outside run. That made a big difference.”
Throw in a couple of blown pass coverages and the Bobcats were looking at a 27-0 deficit in the first quarter and a 42-0 halftime gap.
Bow Valley held Willow Creek scoreless in the third, but just couldn’t connect on offence. Haigh and Kibzey were both hobbled by the licking they were taking from the Cobras, but fought hard to the end.
“We adjusted,” Dang said of his team’s second-half defensive success. “We pushed more to the outside and stopped their outside run, and contained them a little bit better.”
While it didn’t end the way the Bobcats had planned, it was still a good season overall.
“I’m proud of them,” Dang surmised. “It’s probably been the most successful season we’ve had in a couple of years.”
