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Storm holds off Lions in wild season opener

The defences could have stayed home.
Airdrie Storm wide receiver Nathaniel Cross gives Cochrane linebacker Matt Pipa a straight arm en route to a 70-yard touchdown during the Storm’s 38-30 win on Aug. 28.
Airdrie Storm wide receiver Nathaniel Cross gives Cochrane linebacker Matt Pipa a straight arm en route to a 70-yard touchdown during the Storm’s 38-30 win on Aug. 28.

The defences could have stayed home.

The Cochrane Lions and the Airdrie Storm exchanged a series of big offensive plays in a Wild West shootout-style game, with the Storm ultimately prevailing 38-30, as both teams opened their Calgary Bantam Football Association schedules at Shouldice Park in Calgary on Aug. 28.

The teams combined for four touchdown plays of more than 50 yards, piling up huge offensive numbers and putting their respective coaches through a series of emotional highs and lows.

“I can never be upset with a win,” said Storm head coach Steve Kemp. “I don’t like the shootouts and prefer to grind it out, but it definitely gives us lots of stuff to look at.”

“I wish we could get rid of the first half,” said Lions head coach Pat Coyle. “We just came out and made a few mistakes early. We need start tackling at the point of contact. We need to correct a few things in practice this week and hopefully we’ll get better.”

The Storm took a 19-0 lead into the half after a 70-yard touchdown run by Nathaniel Cross late in the second quarter. Cochrane responded with a rushing touchdown on its first drive in the second half to close the gap and turn the game’s momentum.

The Lions added another score early in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 32-23, but gave up a 60-yard touchdown run to Storm running back, and game MVP, Josh Duazo with 67 seconds left. Cochrane then added a late touchdown to make the final score 38-30.

Running back Scott Macmillan was named game MVP for the Lions.

“We went more to the air in the second half and had some success,” Coyle said. “We’ll build on that since, at this level, if you have a passing game, you can definitely take advantage of situations and get the ball down the field.”

“It was a good start, but we let off the gas pedal in the second half,” Kemp said.

“They made some adjustments and found our weaknesses. We’re just going to have to go back to fundamentals and work on our tackling and footwork. We’re going to have to keep working and bury teams when we get the chance.”

The Lions will take on the Calgary Hilltoppers at noon Sept. 4, while the Storm will play the Calgary Golden Hawks at 3 p.m. Both games are at Shouldice Park.

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