The ups and downs of high school football were perfectly illustrated by the week the Olds High Spartans experienced.
In a rare two-game week, the Spartans tamed High River's Highwood Mustangs 45-13 on Wednesday on the road only to return home on Saturday to face a reversal of fortune against the top team in the province.
The Spruce Grove Panthers, Alberta's number one team in Tier I – a level for schools with a senior high population greater than 1,250 students – made a stop at Normie Kwong Park to administer a clinic in football to the tune of 62-10 over the home-standing Spartans, a team that normally walks the line between the Tier IV (population under 449) and Tier III levels.
For Spartans head coach George Grant, the opportunity to face the gold standard in Alberta high school football was never about the scoreboard but more about the experience.
“They're the top team in Tier I in the province at this moment so we wanted to show our guys what a great program looks like and show them that we're not that far away and that we can be at that level if we put in a little extra effort and work together,” he explained. “That's one thing the Panthers did, was they worked so well together and we have to mimic that if we want to be an elite team.”
With the final outcome seemingly never in doubt, there was a chance for the Spartans to claim some small victories to build on.
The highlight of the day was a strong third quarter where they outscored the visiting Panthers 7-3, capped by a 43-yard touchdown pass from Josh Sears to slotback Chris Wedderburn.
The rest of the scoring for the Spartans was on a 25-yard field goal by Quade Smith in the second quarter.
For Grant the exhibition with Spruce Grove was a test of internal fortitude for his young squad that now sits at 2-2 on the season heading into their second Big Sky Conference league game on Saturday when the Canmore Wolverines come to town.
He's certain that if the Spartans show the strength of character they did against Spruce Grove, the upcoming four games, which include a home and away set with Canmore, a trip to Pincher Creek to face the number one team in Tier IV, and a jaunt to Drumheller to face the defending Tier IV champion Titans, will be much less daunting.
“The fact that the guys from the opening kickoff right through to the final whistle kept going hard and didn't give … showed the resiliency of this team,” Grant suggested. “If we can continue to have another good week of practice like we did this last week, we can use this as a learning tool towards our goal of being a little bit better in the next game than we were in this game.”
Saturday's game with Canmore is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Normie Kwong Park.
Extra Points – In Wednesday's game in High River, the Spartans were led by Sears who ran for one major and threw for two others to Wedderburn and Devin Baril. Zachary Wild scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground while Ty Smith ran another one in for the black and gold.
Quade Smith added a field goal and six converts in the win over the Spartans former Big Sky Conference rival, that now plays in the Big Rock Football League.
