The Olds High School Spartans football team watched their lead dwindle in the second half of their qualifying game against the Bow Valley High School Bobcats but managed to hang on for a 45-28 victory on Nov. 1 at Normie Kwong Park.
With the win, the Spartans punched their ticket to play the Drumheller Titans in a Tier IV provincial quarter-final game on Nov. 8.
“We came out really well in the first half but in the second half, we weren't as strong as we probably could've or should've been. Luckily time ran out and we were up on the scoreboard,” said Spartans head coach George Grant.
“We are going to have our work cut out for us,” Grant said about playing the three-time provincial champions. “They run a double-wing offence which is very difficult for us to defend and we're just going to have to come up with a game plan that we can execute against them in order to try to shut them down.”
Grant's team started strong and had an answer for every Bobcats score in the first half.
After OHS took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, Grayson Javorsky completed a 20-yard run in the second to give the Bobcats their first touchdown of the game.
Tylen Smith, a Grade 12 running back, responded by returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to give OHS a 20-7 lead.
“Overall, we just worked as a unit. Everybody was doing the right thing, everybody was going to the right place and that's the reason we scored,” Smith said after the game.
Special teams play was something the squad had worked on all year, Grant said.
“We've got our 12 guys there that are committed to it and every once in a while, you get a good break and you can pop one out,” he said.
The two teams then traded majors before OHS quarterback Connor Jorgensen found Bryce Wachtler in the end zone with five seconds left in the half. Smith split the uprights for the extra point, giving Olds a 34-14 lead by halftime.
After the break, OHS receiver Dwayne Neustaeter returned the opening kickoff for another touchdown, giving his team a 41-14 lead.
On the team's next drive, Smith's field goal put OHS ahead 44-14, its largest lead of the game.
From that point on, the Bobcats played what their offensive co-ordinator Harv Davies called the best football they've played all year.
Scott Haigh stepped in to play quarterback in the second half, replacing Zachary Kibzey.
The two connected for a touchdown in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 44-20.
On Bow Valley's next drive, Haigh's passing took the Bobcats from their own 30-yard line to the OHS end zone, slicing the lead further to 44-28.
Davies said Haigh was substituted as quarterback because he could no longer play his original position.
“He was a running back and he couldn't run anymore. He had a stinger in his neck. That's one of the injuries that we had,” Davies said. “We put him at quarterback and he's played (there) for us before. We changed our play calls a little bit and our guys just kind of dug deep.”
The Bobcats never got closer but Grant said he feared the game might have slipped away.
“I wasn't real comfortable throughout the fourth quarter until about the last minute-and-a-half because they didn't give up,” Grant said. “They're good. They did exactly what we expected them to do but they just waited until the second half before they got going on it so we got ourselves lucky.”
Pull Quote
"We are going to have our work cut out for us."-Spartans head coach George Grant
