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Chargers defend Airdrie Bowl title

The Bert Church Chargers held on to the bragging rights. But, despite beating the George McDougall Mustangs 17-9 on Oct. 15 at Genesis Place field to claim the seventh annual Airdrie Bowl, they may not have them for long.
Members of the Bert Church Chargers football team celebrate their 17-9 Airdrie Bowl win over the crosstown rival George McDougall Mustangs, Oct. 15 at Genesis Place field.
Members of the Bert Church Chargers football team celebrate their 17-9 Airdrie Bowl win over the crosstown rival George McDougall Mustangs, Oct. 15 at Genesis Place field. Cody Vinish and Kalin Holonics had the two Charger touchdowns in the win. The two teams will face each other again in a RVSA playoff semi-final on Oct. 21.

The Bert Church Chargers held on to the bragging rights.

But, despite beating the George McDougall Mustangs 17-9 on Oct. 15 at Genesis Place field to claim the seventh annual Airdrie Bowl, they may not have them for long.

With the anomalies associated with a six-team Rocky View Sports Association football league, the two teams will meet again this week in a Tier 2 playoff semi-final.

“The quick turnaround is OK,” said Chargers’ head coach Andy Kirk. “Both teams know each other well enough, so we’re not going to put a whole lot of new things in. Both teams enjoy playing each other.”

The Springbank Phoenix (4W-2L) finished first in RVSA Tier 2 after beating the fourth-place Chestermere Cowboys (0W-6L), setting up the other semi-final, while Bert Church (3W-3L) finished second and George McDougall (1W-5L) third.

The Chargers won’t celebrate for long, but said they were happy with the Airdrie Bowl victory last week.

“You always want to beat your crosstown rival,” said Chargers’ defensive back Mark Johnson. “We really came up big when we had to tonight.”

“(The George Mac) seniors next year won’t have won (the Airdrie Bowl) yet, so they’re going to want it more than anything,” said Chargers’ Kyle Geersteen, a Grade 11 linebacker. “Even though we’ve won it twice, I want the next one.”

“A game is a game,” said Chargers’ halfback and safety Mitchell Dorgan, who also had the loudest cheering section in the bleachers. “We play hard every game and we knew they were going to come out hard.”

The Mustangs took a 9-0 lead into the half after Grade 10 kicker Lance Villemarie booted a 14-yard field goal, with 2:48 left in the second quarter, and running back Alex Smith completed a five-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

“Our guys were running the ball hard, our line was blocking hard, and we were able to make a lot of connections happen,” said Mustangs’ head coach Brent Legault.

“We were struggling a lot in the first half, as McDougall’s offence and defence were putting it right to us,” Kirk said. “They were playing strong, hard-nosed football and we did not respond.”

Bert Church kicked off to George Mac to open the second half, but the ensuing return was stripped by the Chargers’ Cody Vinish and returned for a touchdown.

Kalin Holonics added a rushing touchdown on the next drive to put Bert Church up 14-9, before Fraser Hunter completed the scoring with a 26-yard field goal with 2:09 left in the third quarter.

“We made some adjustments at half with our defence, which served as a momentum changer and ended up helping our offence,” Kirk said.

“One of the things that helped us tonight too, was the very solid special teams play. We got the field goal, our converts were good, our punting was good and our returns were very strong.”

“They had nothing to lose in the second half – that was the big thing,” Legault said. “They knew they were down 9-0 and had to come out swinging. Our guys were maybe a little comfortable and didn’t come out with the same drive or desire.”

Bert Church’s offence featured a different look during the game as well, as starting quarterback Tim Wallace was replaced by Victor Primeau.

“He allowed us to do a few different things,” Kirk said. “He was pretty nervous, as it was his first start, but we thought ‘What better way to get him in?’”

Bert Church and George Mac will play again at Genesis Place field in Airdrie on Oct. 21 at 4:30 p.m.

Chestermere will play a rematch at Springbank simultaneously, while Cochrane and Bow Valley will play again on Oct. 30.

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