In a showdown between the top two teams in the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) football league, the Cochrane Cobras maintained its 50-plus-game unbeaten run against division opponents Sept. 27 with a 35-7 road win over the Springbank Phoenix.
Playing in cold and windy conditions, the Cobras overcame a slow start in the first half – by Cochrane’s standards, anyway – to record three unanswered touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.
Cochrane, the five-time reigning Tier 3 provincial champion, came into the contest following a rare loss. The team fell 24-7 in an exhibition game Sept. 19 against the Raymond Comets of the Westwind School Division.
“We came off last week’s loss against Raymond, and our kids were a little slow getting started, but we picked it up a bit,” said head coach Rob McNab.
“Springbank did a great job coaching – we play them a lot, and they figured out what we were doing and did a great job.”
The Phoenix held the Cobras to just a single touchdown in the first quarter. After 11 minutes of scoreless action, senior quarterback Xavier Vaillancourt – a University of Dinos commit for next year – threw a 20-yard pass that Chase Hunt caught on the edge of the Phoenix end zone.
“We like to throw the ball, obviously, and today that was a bit of a struggle, with the weather,” McNab said. “When we gave [Hunt] the ball, he made the difference. He’s a great player, and he’s worked very hard. For a Grade-11 kid, he is very strong.”
Springbank responded with a touchdown of its own on its first drive of the second frame. Early into the quarter, Grade-11 quarterback Danny Skelton found receiver Kade Baldwin on the left side of the Cobras’ end zone for a 15-yard major. It was just the second touchdown Cochrane has conceded against division opponents this season.
“Coming out of that first quarter, we knew we had to be better, and improve as a team and stay focused,” said Springbank’s senior running back, Jack O’Brien.
Cochrane didn’t take long to regain the lead. Vaillancourt capped off the Cobras’ next drive with a 10-yard running touchdown, and the visitors took the 14-7 lead into halftime.
The tight score line in the first half was largely due to a robust performance from Springbank’s secondary, which intercepted three of Vaillancourt’s passes.
“He was forcing stuff, a little bit,” McNab said of his star QB. “Sometimes, when you play teams that don’t defend as well, you get away with that and it creates bad habits.
“I think, today, [Springbank was] a bit better in that defensive backfield. Some of the coverages they threw at us, we weren’t familiar with it, so they confused us a little bit.”
Despite the Phoenix’s competitive showing in the first 24 minutes, Cochrane’s offence found a higher gear in the remaining quarters, registering three more touchdowns to secure yet another victory.
“This year, we thought we could beat them,” O’Brien said. “They’re definitely a beatable team, so next time we play them, we’re going to have to come out harder and be better.
“[Cochrane] has a good tradition of winning and a good mindset. It’s all mental for them.”
Cochrane followed up the win with its annual trip to San Francisco Oct. 3 to 9 to play exhibition games against American teams, while also catching a NCAA and NFL game.
The Phoenix, meanwhile, took on the Bert Church Chargers Oct. 4 (after press time) in another match-up between two of the RVSA’s top teams this year. As of Oct. 2, the Chargers was unbeaten with a 4-0 record. The Airdrie-based team is having a memorable season and was ranked eighth in the province among Tier 2 teams by Football Alberta.
“Bert Church is going to be a good game,” O’Brien said. “We can definitely win it. We just have to stay focused and have a good mindset next week.”
Following the Cobras’ trip to California, Cochrane will cap off its regular-season schedule in Airdrie, with an Oct. 11 battle with the Chargers.
