The Cochrane Lions ran into a runaway opponent in the Calgary Colts.
And the end result was a 51-19 Calgary Area Midget Football Association loss April 19 at Shouldice Park’s Encana Field.
The Lions scored more points on offence in the CAMFA Week 3 tilt than in either of the team’s opening two games of the season, but also allowed the most points yet. Down several players due to Spring Break, the out-numbered Lions couldn’t catch up to the high-flying Colts.
“They had more players on each side of the ball than we had on the whole team today,” Lions head coach Jud Graham cracked. “We have a number of kids on school trips to Europe and a number of kids with their families going on vacation. Our numbers were depleted.”
It didn’t get any better when the Lions offensive line took a hit with an injury to Callum Graham. The 6-foot-2, 260-pounder had his ankle taped at the half, only to go back in and partially separate his shoulder in the third quarter.
“Not great,” the offensive lineman, who also plays nose tackle on defence, said. “I injured my ankle. I came around and tripped on someone. My shoulder, it’s half a dislocation, basically. It came out of the socket and popped back in right away.”
He expects to miss at least a week, probably more.
On the positive side, the team’s three touchdowns showcased the potential of the offensive group. Quarterback Des Catellier was making good decisions with the ball, spreading it around to his receivers and running for positive yardage when he had to. Not as many balls were dropped by Lions receivers as in Week 2.
“It’s what we focussed on in practice this week. We talked about it,” said coach Graham. “We really talked to the receivers about making the catch and not worrying about the run after. I think that made a big difference.”
Catellier hit wideout Evan Perrault for a 10-yard TD strike. The quarterback ran for a TD, with running back Kane Boklaschuk scoring Cochrane’s other TD.
“His reads were really good today,” coach Graham said of his quarterback. “We saw a couple of weaknesses in their defence we worked over.”
At some point, the Lions are hoping to assemble the pieces of their opening three CAMFA games into a whole-game effort worthy of a win. The coach feels the Lions are close.
“I was actually really happy with this game. Certainly in the second quarter we had them on their heels. I saw a lot of good stuff from our offence we haven’t seen so far. Some of the teams that don’t have the depth the Colts have, I think we’ll be able to beat them with that offence and maybe make a run for the Division 2 championship.”
The Lions travel to Lacombe to tackle the Prairie Fire in CAMFA Week 4 action April 26, noon kickoff.
