So much for a rebuilding year.
The Cochrane Lions, who lost their starting quarterback, head coach and several key players to the high-school ranks at the end of last season, are now 2-0 in Calgary Bantam Football Association play following a 52-0 win over Airdrie Raiders Aug. 31 at Shouldice Park’s Hellard Field in Calgary.
The Lions opened the season four days earlier with a 30-14 win over Foothills Eagles.
Quarterback Tae Gordon looks right at home under centre, replacing Des Catellier who is now playing high-school ball in Calgary. Gordon has good command of offensive coordinator Cam Cote’s scheme, is throwing the ball well and, when things break down, running authoritatively at opposing defenders.
The offensive and defensive lines, with players like Matt Manyguns, Cody Pickering and Kooper Stevens, are controlling the lines of scrimmage.
Tailback Rylen Waugh is feasting on the holes created by his linemen, ripping off large chucks of yardage regularly.
Cochrane’s second game of the season came without the mistakes players made in the Aug. 27 season-opener against Foothills. Their execution improved noticeably.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the players, there’s a lot of skill on this team,” bantam Lions head coach Paul McLean said.
“Everyone is starting to gel right now. They’re starting to play like a football team. When we started off, everyone was individual. Now we’re a team.”
Among some of the Lions scorers against Airdrie were Waugh with a 75-yard touchdown run and Gordon on a 22-yard, broken-play scramble for a score. Jadon Kibzey also scored on a 30-yard pass-and-run play.
Jacob Toye was dishing out the pain on defence, hammering Airdrie ball carriers at every opportunity.
Cochrane’s early success prompted offensive coodinator Cote to change his offence substantially at the end of the first quarter to get all his players on the field.
“It gave an opportunity to look at some different talent, some first-year players who maybe haven’t been able to show themselves in a game,” McLean said.
“We had some amazing plays by those players. So I’m really proud of them and what they’ve done. And it gave them a lot of confidence to do that next time around.”
The bantam Lions have a bye this week and resume play Sept. 14 against the Hilltoppers at Calgary’s Shouldice Park Encana Field, 11 a.m. kickoff.
