At the beginning of the season, Cochrane Cobras football set their sights set on two provincial records. The first? Set the record for most consecutive wins with 40. Been there, done that after a 55-14 victory over the Chestermere Lakers on Sept. 21. The second, was a fifth straight provincial title. The team can also check that off the to do list after a 25-8 victory over the Holy Rosary Raiders on Nov. 24 - the fourth year in a row the Cobras have handed the Raiders a loss in the final game. "It feels great. The best other team to do it was four by us in 2002-05 and then Cardston did it in Tier 2 in the 1990s. It's nice to set history and set the bar moving forward with something that no other team has done. The kids were aware of it and played like they wanted to set the record," said Cobras co-head coach Bruce O'Neil. "The first goal was to win the provincials and then setting the consecutive win record was obviously second. It feels really good to achieve that. Harry Ainlay from Edmonton had the best chance to beat it next year because they were going into the Tier 1 provincial final with a 24 game unbeaten streak before they lost to St. Francis. They had a lot of Grade 11s on their team, so they had a good chance go undefeated again next year and set the record quite quickly. With them losing, I think the record is good for the next four to five years." The game didn't start off in the Cobras favour as they drove the length of the field, got down within the Raiders five yard line and then took a holding penalty that pushed them back to the 15 where their two attempts on second and third down were unsuccessful. After Holy Rosary got a single point to grab the lead, it was extended when Cobras quarterback Xavier Vaillancourt threw an interception that was returned for a Raiders touchdown. The score would remain that way until just under two minutes before the half when Cochrane drove the field and capped it off with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Vaillancourt to Dawson Laye to make it 8-8 heading into half time. "Once Xavier threw that pick, they (Holy Rosary) were pretty high because in the previous three games they never had the lead. But Xavier calmed down, which is the sign of a great player ... you're not playing well but he stayed with it and went into halftime tied. We were making stops on defence and Rob (McNab) got the offence going and they called some excellent plays in the second half and the kids executed so well," O'Neil said. "I think we, as coaches, we've been there and won a lot. Xavier has such strong character and rebounded from that early interception to come back and have a great second half. He didn't get rattled, got over the nerves and played very well after." Early in the third quarter, Cochrane once again drove the field and got inside the Raiders five yard line where Vaillancourt once again was able to find Laye upping the Cobras lead to 15-8. Six minutes later, the Cobras tried a field goal which was pushed wide left off the foot of Oscar Hughes. A heads up play by running back Fox Bell resulted in a touchdown from the otherwise missed opportunity.Bell ran downfield and knocked the ball out of the Holy Rosary returner's hands, which fell directly into the hands of Cole Higginson in the end zone for the touchdown, extending the Cobra lead to 14 points. The defence did its job the remainder of the game, forcing numerous two and outs as well as turnovers while Hughes booted his first successful field goal of the game in the fourth quarter to give Cochrane High a 25-8 victory. "All three phases of our team played a role in the win," O'Neil said. "We got a touchdown off special teams, two from the offence and the defence made stops. The defensive coaching staff really came up with a great plan and the boys executed it to perfection." The Cobras will wrap up their season with their annual team banquet during the month of December, with the date yet to be announced.
