The Sundre Bison football team recently faced some stiff competition against the Innisfail Cyclones. The local squad lost 72-0 in the Mountain View 9 Man Football Conference semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 21, bringing its season to an end.
The Sundre Bison football team recently faced some stiff competition against the Innisfail Cyclones.
The local squad lost 72-0 in the Mountain View 9 Man Football Conference semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 21, bringing its season to an end.
Sundre fielded only 14 players in the semifinal match, almost half just in grades 8 and 9. They lacked the size and experience of the defending three-time champions, but never gave up and enthusiastically poured their heart and soul into the whole game.
"I'm really impressed with all of our players. They put everything on the field and left it out there," said coach Tyson Dichrow.
Facing many uphill battles, he said the young team has consistently improved over the past couple of months and this was "definitely a re-building year."
"We had a really inexperienced team," he said, adding that 11 out of 16 players had never played an organized game before the team's first match of the season.
"But all of them have definitely improved exponentially over the course of the season."
The players enjoyed a unique chance earlier this month to play at Calgary's McMahon Stadium, where the artificial turf field is 15 yards wider and 10 yards longer than what they were used to, he said.
"The field is just so much bigger," he said, adding it is designed for two teams of 12, not nine.
But the Bison were nevertheless excited by the opportunity to play where the professionals do, he said.
"They seemed to be pretty pumped up — they were amped coming out of the tunnel."
Providing crucial leadership this year was Grade 12 student Andrew Cottrell, who will be moving on next year, the coach said.
"He was a real leader this year — on the sidelines, on the field, off the field, he was a leader," he said, adding all of the younger players looked up to him.
There are five teams in the conference, and the top four squads proceed to playoffs. The Bison, who played six regular season games with a record of 1 and 5, ended the season in fourth place.
The Cyclones played the league final on Saturday, Oct. 28 in Innisfail against the Didsbury/Bowden Dragons, who they defeated to retain their championship title.
Now that their season is over, the Bison will get to hit the gym to keep up their conditioning and prepare for next year, said Dichrow.
"I'm really, really looking forward to next year and the next few years. We have a few young players who are eager to improve," he said.
"We put some pieces in place that'll be good cornerstones for the next few years…we have a really good solid core going into next season."
The team's annual banquet night is lined up for Nov. 18 at the Sundre Curling Club. Visit Sundre Bison on social media for updates.
