The Cochrane High Cobras football team have added another trophy to the display case when the team defeated the Springbank Phoenix 35-2 on Oct. 27 in the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) league championship game. Cochrane led 7-0 after the first quarter and 14-2 at half time thanks to touchdowns that came from the usual suspects in slot back Dylan Neis and quarterback Xavier Vaillancourt with Springbank earning a safety to register their only points of the contest. The second half could have been dubbed "The Chase Hunt Show" as the Grade 10 running back scored two touchdowns in the third quarter extending the Cobras lead to 26 while adding his third major of the game in the fourth to finish the game off with a 35-2 score in favour of the Cobras. It was a dominating season for the Cobras in league play. The team went 6-0 throughout the regular season as well as two wins in the playoffs against Bert Church and Springbank. Over the course of those eight games, Cochrane High scored an astounding 321 points, an average of 40 points per game while only allowing a measly 48 points total or six points per game. Cobras co-head coach Bruce O'Neil preaches teamwork, effort and good coaching as the reason why the defence is so successful week-in-and-week-out. "Defence is all about team. There's no individuals, it's just strictly team. We have so many good coaches and we're able to teach the defence how we want and the kids are held accountable ... we've got Tom Knitter and Jeff Avery as defensive back coaches, Ken Polson coaching the linebackers and the defensive co-ordinator, Seth Henderson, as the defensive line coach with Jim Forrest helping there too. I kind of oversee the whole thing and am co-defensive co-ordinator with Ken (Polson)," O'Neil said. "I think the number of coaches that we have coaching makes a big difference and then the kids hear the same message over and over for three years. They hear it in Grade 10, 11 and 12 ... it's all about team. Run to the ball, don't get beat deep and stop the run. Those are our three philosophies and we know what we're doing when we line up for each play." "It was huge to get some momentum heading into provincials because when we lost to St. Francis we lost some mojo, and when we played down in the States we lost quite handily so we lost a little more mojo. Then against W.H. Croxford, we didn't have a particularly good game and even against Bert Church we had a slow start. That's unusual for us, we usually get off to a good start and away we go. So it was good to beat Springbank ... they're a good team and obviously hadn't lost a game except for when they played us so for us to play well like that, it was important." "It's a lot more fun to go to practice after a big win and we're starting to get our mojo back." Cochrane High will now face off with the Cardston Cougars in the first round of provincials, a team the Cobras are very familiar with. The two teams have met the last four years and have given the Cobras some of their toughest games over the duration of their four-straight provincial title run. "They're not big players but they're very skilled, fast and competitive. They've got a good coaching staff too. Their coach is very imaginative so you don't always see the same thing and they're always adding wrinkles to their offence," O'Neil said. "We just gotta watch film and do what we can to be prepared for what you don't see because he'll have plays that we haven't seen before. One of the advantages that we have this year is (defensive backs coach) Tom Knitter. He played for us, the Calgary Colts and at the University of Calgary for the Dinos ... not only that, but he's coached with the Dinos the last three or four years. Cardston is very similar to us where they throw the ball a lot and Tom makes us stronger in that department in order to defend them and be better prepared." "Because we run similar styles, practising against our offence better prepares the defence to play against them as well. A lot of teams try to copy what Rob (McNab) does, but he has such an expertise that a lot of teams don't have ... everyone can copy the formations and draw up the plays but once again, Rob knows how to coach it so we're successful at it, where a lot of teams maybe aren't as good. When the defence scrimmages against Rob's offence we usually go against the best receivers and best quarterback, which better prepares us for the upcoming week." Kickoff for the Cobras game against the Cougars on Nov.10 will go at 1 p.m. up at Spray Lake Sawmills Legacy Field.
