The George McDougall Mustangs' historic 2022 season came to a close on Nov. 4, after a 48-21 defeat to the Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) Knights in the South Central Zones Tier II provincial qualifier.
The Okotoks-based Knights showed why they are currently Canada's top-ranked high-school football team among schools of similar enrolment with an inspired performance against the Mustangs at Bow Valley High School in Cochrane.
“They have a really good collection of some of the best players from Okotoks and south Calgary,” said Mustangs head coach Chris Glass. “They’re a good squad, and they really came to play.
“So did we, but we ran out of guns at the end of the day.”
George McDougall came into the game ranked 10th in the nation among schools their size, as well as third in Alberta among Tier II high-school programs.
They were also coming off a huge win over the Cochrane Cobras for the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) banner the week before.
Needless to say, it was an exciting match-up between two high-calibre teams. The Knights had put up a 7-1 record during the regular season, while the Mustangs came into the game on the back of an 8-2 season.
With a spot in the ASAA Tier II provincial quarterfinals on the line, the Knights built up a 14-0 lead before the Mustangs were able to reduce the arrears with a touchdown from senior running back Paul Condon on a first-and-goal midway through the second quarter.
But HTA restored their two-touchdown advantage shortly after thanks to a rushing major from Grade 10 running back Seth Poelzer, who juked his way past multiple Mustangs defenders en route to the end zone.
Poelzer was one of the difference-makers for HTA throughout the game, scoring four of the Knights' six touchdowns. According to Glass, the sophomore running back's performance was aided by a strong showing from the Knights' offensive line.
“The push he got from the o-line was quite dominant,” Glass said. “It’s one of those games where the running backs did play well, but the o-line made them stars. And that o-line was tremendous for them.”
The Knights took further control of the contest in the third quarter, extending their lead to 34-7.
“They made some key adjustments in the second half and some really quick on-the-fly adjustments, which boded well for them,” Glass said. “We just didn’t keep up.”
As the game moved toward the final 12 minutes, George McDougall kept their slim hopes alive thanks to a touchdown catch from Tyrell Hofland to cap off the third quarter.
But any hopes of a late comeback were stifled by another rushing major from Poelzer early into the fourth quarter. While Condon managed his second touchdown with a huge run down the left on the Mustangs' next possession, the Knights tacked on another insurance TD to finish off the game.
The result marked the second year in a row that HTA has beaten the Mustangs to book a spot in provincials. The Knights have won the South Central Zones Tier II qualifier every year since 2018.
However, Glass noted this year's game was much closer than last year, when HTA inflicted a 39-0 shutout in the qualifier.
“The score was not indicative of how we played,” Glass said. “Last year we got beat up, and this year, it was a competitive game until midway through the third quarter.
He added that shows George McDougall is catching up to HTA – slowly. The Knights have established themselves as one of Alberta's best Tier II teams in recent years, winning the Alberta Bowl in 2019 and finishing runners-up in 2021.
“We’re making it there. It’s not unlike how we’ve played Cochrane in the past,” Glass said. “We’ve gone from 50-0 blowouts to close games to us taking the advantage. We’re going to continue taking steps next year and hopefully get another shot at these guys.”
While the players and coaches were understandably disappointed to come out on the losing end, Glass noted the 2022 campaign has been a historic one for the Mustangs. The squad not only won their first RVSA banner since 2014 by dethroning the Cochrane Cobras, but for the first time in program history, were ranked among Canada's top 10 small high-school teams by CanadaFootballChat.com.
“I mean, I’m disappointed we didn’t win...but there’s no way I could be disappointed in this team, Glass said.
“I’m so proud of the guys we have. Especially our Grade 12s, who have done so much growing up. Some of these kids, we’ve coached for six years [going back to peewee] as a staff, so to see what they put on the field [is amazing]. Even Paul Condon, at the end of the game, when the score was out of hand, he was still running his hardest trying to score, and policing the sidelines to make sure guys stay up – how can you not be proud of that?”
