If the Bert Church Chargers plan to make a run in the Rocky View Sports Association football league this season, the team will need exceptional performances from its core group of seniors.
The Chargers began fall practice on Aug. 30 in anticipation of its season-opening game at Springbank High School on Sept. 16. Head coach Andy Kirk said his team will rely on the experience, while also trying to allow a new group of Grade 10 players to adapt to high school football.
“We have some players that are returning seniors that certainly are capable of showing a lot of leadership,” he said. “We have a lot of kids in Grade 10, but they have some experience playing, so that’s a big advantage. We’ll see how that plays out.”
Returning quarterback Victor Primeau and running back Mark Johnson are expected to lead the offence for Bert Church, although Primeau’s starting job may be challenged by Jacob Schaff.
“At the end of last season, he was taking the snaps and doing a real nice job with that,” Kirk said of Primeau.
For Johnson, who is heading into his final year at Bert Church, this season is all about erasing the poor memory of last season.
“Last year, we kind of petered out at the end and gave up on ourselves,” he said. “As seniors this year, we have to prove to ourselves and the rest of the league that wasn’t who we are and this year is going to be different.”
“What I’m looking for is to win the Airdrie Bowl,” said Michael Clifford, a Grade 12 defensive back and linebacker. “That’s the first step. Second step is winning divisionals, because to get to provincials we need to do those things first.”
Kirk said the team is a little thin in numbers at the moment, due to school not having started yet, but he expects that to improve after Sept. 6.
“It’s hard to say if we’ll have all our holes plugged up properly,” he said.
“But conditioning has actually been pretty good. Mark Johnson and a couple of the boys took a good leadership role by rounding up a few of the boys in the off-season to do some running.”
Bert Church will play a warm-up game against cross-town rival George McDougall on Sept. 7 at the Genesis Place field. Game time is 5 p.m.
The Chargers will then open at Springbank High School on Sept. 16, before competing in the Airdrie Bowl against the Mustangs on Sept. 23.
