The Olds High School Spartans football team downed the Notre Dame High School Cougars in Red Deer 34-9 on Oct. 22, improving the team's season record to 6-2.
The Spartans will play the Cochrane High School Cougars on Nov. 2 to determine which team goes on to provincial playoffs. The Cobras are ranked number 1 by Football Alberta in the Tier III high school rankings with a 5-0 record while the Spartans are ranked number 5.
During the game against the Tier I Cougars on Oct. 22, the Spartans jumped out to a 7-1 lead after the first quarter. On the opening kickoff, the Cougars kicked the ball through the end zone for a single point, while the Spartans marched downfield later in the quarter for a touchdown.
“In the second quarter, we really started to click with our offence, and our defence did a great job in holding them and forcing them to punt and allowing us really great field position throughout the game,” said George Grant, the team's head coach.
Grant said that while the Spartans didn't give up as much field position as they have over the last few games due to penalties, there is still room for improvement as the team heads into its toughest game of the season against the Cobras.
“It was better and there's still room for improvement. We talked about that at halftime and in the second half the guys did a much better job on concentrating and keeping their heads into the game,” he said.
Grant said while the Cobras are a better team on paper, he is confident that the Spartans will come out hard and give the opposition as much as it can handle.
“I think we're going to give them a great game and really push the envelope and if everything works out the way we expect it to, we should come away with a win,” he said, adding that the team's success this season has been due to athleticism and good work ethic. “When you get a group of athletes together you can pretty much form a team in any sport and our guys, we have some great leaders, along with a phenomenal work ethic.”
