Cyclones tasting four-peat gridiron glory

INNISFAIL – The Sundre Bison knew even before the opening whistle they were no match against the Innisfail Cyclones.

A week earlier on Oct. 17 the defending three-time Mountain View 9 Man Football Conference champion Cyclones overwhelmed the Bison 80 – 0. The final score of the Oct. 24 playoff semifinal game in Innisfail was not much different. The Bison were crushed 72 – 0.

However, Sundre fielded only 14 players in the semifinal match, almost half just in grades 8 and 9. They lacked the size and skill of the Cyclones but nevertheless played with the heart of a lion, never giving up, and putting everything they had in the game from start to finish.

“They are a really young team, but lots of spirit and lots of heart. They fly around at full speed and are really eager to learn,” said Bison head coach Tyson Dichrow, who fully acknowledged the ample talent of the Cyclones. “Innisfail made lots of good plays. We knew they were going to do that.

“We made lots of good plays and absolutely very few mistakes,” he added about his team. “I was really impressed on how they played today.”

But from start to finish the Cyclones gave the Bison a good gridiron lesson, scoring at will with a fine-tuned offence that scored touchdowns on every possession until midway through the third quarter. With the outcome never in doubt, the Cyclones began subbing their best players for the younger ones before the first quarter was over.

But the defending champs did show some defensive complacency early and head coach Trevor Wooff quickly huddled them up and administered an old-fashioned dressing down.

“One of the things we have been trying to do in the last three weeks is not to become complacent and when you watch our game films we are getting away with sloppy bad habits,” said Wooff. “We were really working hard because we know our next game is going to be a lot tougher, and we're trying to make sure our guys are not falling into that sloppy, ‘we touch them and they fall over and that is good enough'.

“It's not. And that is why we yanked them off and told them you got to break down and you got do your technique better,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Cyclones are now preparing for the league final this Saturday (Oct. 28) at home against the Didsbury/Bowden Dragons.

Wooff said there would be some fine-tuning in all areas of the game they had been working on during the regular season but he and his coaching staff also know the players are well-schooled on the game and the team's playbook.

“It's just a mental game right now. They have got to be disciplined,” said Wooff, adding his team must check any hint of complacency. “It's just making sure we are not doing the dumb things to shoot ourselves in the foot.”