Last season's Tier 3 provincial football season ended the same way it had the last three years, with the Cochrane High Cobras being crowned the provincial champions after a 21-14 victory over the Holy Rosary Raiders on Nov. 24. "We're already getting prepared for the season. Some kids are at the University of Calgary (Dinos) camp and one of our coaches in Tom Knitter coaches at the camp as well," said Cobras co-head coach Bruce O'Neil. "But we officially get started Monday (Aug. 27) and then we have an exhibition game scheduled with Paul Kane High School on Sept. 1 up at Spray Lake Sawmills Legacy Field. We'll have five good practices and then we'll just keep going from there." The Cobras dominated last season, going undefeated throughout the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) regular season with a 6-0 record, as well as winning all four Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA) Provincial games including the provincial title game against the Raiders. In those 10 games, the Cobras outscored their opponents by an astounding margin of 414-53, where Cochrane High averaged 41 points per game while never giving up more than 14 points en route to the team’s fourth straight provincial championship. Cochrane High also currently has a win streak of 37 games, two short of tying the record set by Raymond High School back in the early 2000s, a record they'll be looking to break in the early portion of the season. "There's always added pressure with a record like that. I'm a numbers guy, so I checked with Football Alberta to make sure everything is accurate and they know about everything that's happening. We host Bert Church in the second game, so if we beat Springbank in week one, we have a chance to tie the record against the Chargers," O'Neil said. "Then, we unfortunately have to go away on our annual trip, but we play Chestermere when we get back for the potential record-breaking game if we win the first two." The Cobras defence last season only gave up 53 points, averaging five points against per game over a 10 game span, while also never allowing more than 14 points. With many starters slated to return this season, O'Neil has high expectations for the group. "I want us to continue what we've been doing. The three things we talk about on defence is we want to stop the run, that's the first one ... the second one is everyone run to the ball because once we know where the ball is going we need all 12 people flying to the ball so we have no big plays on us," O'Neil said. "The third and final goal is to make sure we don't get beat deep. Those are our three objectives on defence every game. I'll never be able to point out one kid because I'm all about team first. On defence all we do is talk about team, and I think that resonates throughout the entire team ... it's one of the reasons why we're successful." "We have six Grade 12 defensive backs, so that's nice for the secondary, three Grade 12s at linebacker and one senior on the defensive line ... We got a pretty experienced group on defence which is always nice." The season hasn't even begun yet, but everyone around the Town of Cochrane as well as the high school knows the standard around the Cobras football team is championship or bust. O'Neil said everyone surrounding the team knows what the goals are for this season. "That's another record we want to break. No team has ever won five provincial titles in a row so we want to do that this year. We have two goals set for this season ... one is to get the record for most consecutive wins and the other is to be the first team to win five straight," O'Neil said. "The record right now is four and that's by us and Cardston. The first day of practice, that's what we'll talk about and we'll lay it all out there. Our goal is to win provincials and break the record for most consecutive games. We like that because it puts a little added pressure on the kids to preform." "The teams that we play are going to want to be the ones that knock us off ... but we like pressure because it'll make us better as we proceed. Every time the kids walk on the field, they know the opponents will give them their best game because they'll want to be the team that knocks us off. So yes, we are totally okay with pressure." Once the Cobras have their exhibition game on Sept. 1, they'll practice up before taking on the Springbank Phoenix on Sept. 8.
