Cochrane will be well represented at McMahon Stadium next month when Alberta’s best high school footballers take to the field for this spring’s Senior Bowl.
Hosted by Football Alberta and billed as the province’s “premier high school all-star event,” the 28th annual Senior Bowl brings together the best senior high footballers in the province for one (hopefully) sunny afternoon on May 22.
The organization hosted a couple of days of tryouts in Calgary and Edmonton last weekend so Grade 12 football players, all of whom were nominated by coaches, could vie for a coveted spot on either the north or south team.
Five Cochrane teens – quarterback Tae Gordon, running backs Kane Boklaschuk and Brad Hillier, receiver Zach Rabe and Dylan Gingrich-Hadley of the defensive line – all received word Monday that they had earned positions on the south team.
“I just kept checking all day. I was really excited when I saw that I made it,” said an excited Hillier, who was a star on the Bow Valley Bobcats throughout their run to last season’s Tier 4 provincial championship. “It’s a sport I love … hopefully I have a good game.”
“It’ll be a big honour for Brad. It’s not an easy squad to make, especially in his position … it’ll be exciting to have Brad represent us this year,” said Bobcats coach Cam Cote. “He’s a very, very gifted athlete. He brings a lot of qualities … he’s a smart football player: if something breaks down, he knows how to adapt.
“They’ll very much enjoy having him on that team.”
Gordon, who led the Cochrane High School Cobras to last season’s Tier 3 provincial championship three-peat and was named Rocky View Sports Association league MVP, said he remembers his predecessor Cody Stevens being named to the Senior Bowl when Gordon himself was just in Grade 10 – and it’s been a goal of his own for the three years since.
“Ever since then I always had it in the back of my mind,” said Gordon. “It’s really awesome that I can be a part of it.”
Cobras coach Rob McNab, who will also head up the coaching staff for this year’s Senior Bowl south team, said the game is a memorable event for players in their final year of high school.
“It’s a culminating activity – to showcase what you’ve worked hard for,” he said.
Although high school football may end for the Cochrane players, all five have ambitions to pick up the pigskin in their post-secondary years.
Boklaschuk, Rabe and Gingrich-Hadley have all already been signed by the University of Calgary Dinos, while Gordon has his eye on Queens University, which has offered him a scholarship to play with the Gaels under the tutelage of well-respected coach Pat Sheahan. Hillier plans to take up a position with the Calgary Colts of the Canadian Junior Football League.
“For me, I just find it really enjoyable,” said Hillier of the sport – and of the upcoming game. “I’m just going to have fun with it really.”
