The George McDougall Mustangs football team's recent accomplishments have garnered national attention.
In light of the Mustangs' 38-20 win over the Cochrane Cobras in the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) championship game last week, the team has cracked the 10th spot on CanadaFootballChat.com's (CFC) small-school rankings for the top high-school football teams in Canada.
According to head coach Chris Glass, this marks George McDougall's highest ever ranking on CFC's list. He said they'd been ranked as high as 13th and 14th in the past two seasons, but their two most recent results helped propel them into the top 10.
“We’ve just been kind of crawling up the ranks ever since we beat Croxford in the semi-finals," said Glass. "We solidified our [current] spot with that win over Cochrane last week.”
In one of George McDougall's most memorable results in recent years, the Mustangs ended Cochrane High's six-year banner-winning streak in the RVSA last Friday. The upset over the RVSA's perennial powerhouse secured George McDougall's first division banner since 2014.
And they did it in style, at one point leading 23-0 midway through the fourth quarter, before a late comeback attempt from the Cobras brought the game back within two touchdowns. But the Mustangs scored two touchdowns of their own to seal the win.
“It wasn’t an extra point or a field goal that won that game, it was a pretty decisive victory," Glass said. "That led to some attention nationally.”
The Mustangs aren't the only Alberta team that has made waves Canada-wide this season. The Cochrane Cobras have spent much of the season on CFC's top-10 list, as have the Holy Rosary Raiders (of Lloydminster) and the Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) Knights, of Okotoks.
Glass said the fact multiple Alberta high-school football teams have been able to crack national rankings this season is a testament to the strength of Football Alberta programs and the level of coaching in the province.
"There’s a lot of really good football being played here," he said. "You see it when we go to those provincial tournaments. Teams like Ontario and Quebec, with their population size, should really be well ahead of the curve, yet our Alberta teams are always very competitive, either in the medal games or pushing to get into them.
"We always compete with those bigger populations, and I’m glad to see that’s being recognized in the rankings.”
HTA up next
If they want to continue their 2022 season beyond this weekend, the Mustangs will have to topple the team that is currently ranked at the very top of CFC's top 10 list: the HTA Knights.
The Mustangs will take on HTA in a battle to determine which South Central Zones team will qualify for the Football Alberta Tier II quarterfinals.
The Okotoks-based team, who won the Tier II provincial title in 2019 and finished runners-up in the Alberta Bowl last fall, are coming into Friday's contest on the back of a 7-1 season. Their only loss came in a 35-0 setback in a non-conference game against the Tier I Raymond Comets.
While the Mustangs were originally supposed to host the Knights at Ed Eggerer Athletic Park this Saturday, Glass said HTA refused to play on a grass field at this point of the season, when snow and icy conditions can increase the chance of injury.
As a compromise, the two teams eventually settled on hosting the game at Bow Valley High School's turf field, in Cochrane.
Glass said it's disappointing to lose home advantage, noting the decision adds further fuel to the argument that Airdrie is sorely lacking an artificial grass sports field – something he and other football coaches in Airdrie have been pursuing since 2018.
“It does go back to our need here in Airdrie for a turf field," he said. “If we want to be considered for provincial-level events like the playoffs, without having a turf field facility, you’re going to have teams opt out or be forced to move to other jurisdictions.
"It’s too bad, because I know Okotoks was going to bring 200, 300, 400 families to the game, so it was going to be quite exciting. Unfortunately that’s going to be all in Cochrane now.”
Friday's provincial qualifier gets underway at 4 p.m. at Bow Valley High School.
