The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
When Airdrie’s George McDougall Mustangs defeated Cochrane Cobras 21-17 in Rocky View Sports Association high school divisional football gold-medal final play Oct. 25, they toppled a giant.
Favoured to win the division, the undefeated (6-0) Cobras met a better team on a windy Saturday afternoon at Cochrane High field. It was a team the Cobras edged 14-13 in season-opening play in September.
“It’s pretty disappointing. We played a good game,” said Cobras senior running back/linebacker Mac Chaisson following the contest. “They just had more big plays than we did when it came down to it at the end of the day.”
Tied 14-14 at the half on Cochrane touchdowns from Erik Nusl and Zach Deagle, the Cobras held a 17-13 edge in the fourth quarter on a Jesse Chong field goal. But a procedure penalty on a successful fake-punt first down and an apparent Mustangs fumble ruled a catch pumped enough life into George Mac to score a touchdown in the game’s final 90 seconds to seal the deal.
“I have to go check the film out,” Cobras co-head-coach and offensive coordinator Rob McNab said immediately following the game. “When you’re trying to get on the kids and correct them . . . but they did everything right.”
Regardless of the game’s anomalous calls, the Cobras were up against a tough, senior-laden opponent that nearly beat Cochrane in September.
“In a game like this, you can’t really blame the refs. You have to play regardless,” Chaisson insisted. “For the most part, it was a pretty close game, head-to-head. They just broke a couple of passes. We just didn’t break as many as they did.”
McNab agreed. Cobras were defeated by a well-prepared, ready-to-play team on Oct. 25.
“They’re a good football team. They (Mustangs) have a lot of Grade 12s this year,” McNab observed. “They’re experienced. Their coach says this is their year. We’ll see what ends up happening. They’re good.”
With the loss, the season didn’t end for Cobras football. Cochrane hosts Medicine Hat’s Crescent Heights Vikings in a 2A (Tier 3, 450-749 school population) South Region semifinal Nov. 8.
