OLDS — The Olds bantam Bulldogs football team is defending its provincial title Nov. 11 after winning the Bantam 9-A-Side Central Alberta Tier II League Championship Nov. 4.
The Bulldogs downed the Drumheller Titans 58 - 34 in Drumheller in what Bulldogs head coach Matthew Sutherland called “a great game.”
“We have successfully defended our title, as we won the league championship last year,” he wrote in an email.
“It was a full team game. Everyone did amazing and played their part in the win. (I’m) very proud of the players and the coaching staff.”
The Bulldogs are now taking on the Claresholm Cobras in the provincial 9-A-Side Tier II final Nov. 11 in Lethbridge.
The Bulldogs are defending provincial 9-A-Side Tier II champions, having won the title last year, when they edged the Lethbridge Jr. Coyotes 43-42 in the championship game in Lethbridge.
Sutherland says the Nov. 4 game was close at the beginning.
“We were behind after the first quarter,” he wrote. “We started to pull away before the half and then kept the gap through the second half.”
Sutherland says the passing game was a big factor in the win.
“We had some good runs, but Drumheller was good at containing our run,” he wrote. “We had a handful of big passing plays and that made the difference for us.”
Although they allowed 34 points, Sutherland was pleased with the way the defence played.
“The defence did an amazing job for us,” he wrote. “Drumheller has a very strong running game. Once we were able to contain it, it helped shift the momentum in our favour.
“Drumheller kept pounding away though, and they did manage to keep putting points up.
“Our defence had some very key stops where they held their ground, especially late in the game. We had a key interception near the end of the game as well.”
Bulldog special teams were another big factor in the game.
“We did not allow any kick return points and were able to pin them well on kick-offs,” Sutherland wrote.
“Our kick return team had to be on their game, as Drumheller liked to onside kick it. That makes it a bit trickier to gain possession of the ball.
“The key was the consistency in our conversions after the touchdowns. Our kicking team was on track and did very well to put up key points.”
Sutherland says the Bulldogs’ first touchdown was a huge momentum swing for them.
“We have a lot of new players this year that came up from Peewee or are new to the sport,” he wrote. “There were a lot of nerves floating around.”
However, that TD calmed some kids down and at the same time got the team fired up.
It occurred after “a crazy scramble by our QB (Aiden Knobben) to get space to make a long throw to our receiver (Corben Christensen),” Sutherland wrote.
He said Christensen made an “awesome catch and a great run into the end zone while being tackled as he crossed the line.”
Unfortunately, Christensen suffered an injured knee during that first TD play, as he got tackled "awkwardly," Sutherland wrote.
“He was a trouper and after some work by our trainer, was able to get back for a bit more of the game.”
“Drumheller is a hard-hitting team that plays aggressively,” he added.
Earlier this season, the Bulldogs suffered some other injuries that knocked out a couple of players.
Sutherland says they lost a lineman to a knee injury right at the start of the season, a receiver to a broken arm after their first game.
He said “luckily, we were able to get back another lineman who broke his foot, before the season started, in time for the last few games.”
“All the players have put in amazing work and have been able to stay healthy and are always eager to go,” Sutherland wrote. “The players that are out injured have been a huge part of encouraging their teammates through the season.”
Going into the provincial final, Sutherland says the Bulldogs don’t know much about the Cobras.
“From what little I do know they, like us, have a strong passing game. It is going to be a great game,” he wrote.
