One step at a time.
It’s how Bow Valley High School Bobcats are working through the Rocky View Sports Association 2015 football season.
A Tier 4 (small population) school in the six-team league comprised of Tier 2-3 programs, Bobcats’ forward strides will be measured differently. Despite losing to visiting Tier 2 George McDougall Mustangs of Airdrie on Sept. 18 at Spray Lake Sawmills Legacy Field in Cochrane, there was an air of optimism in the Bobcats den.
“This score says 44-6, right?” said Bobcats Grade 10 quarterback Simon Vincent, who scored Bow Valley’s lone touchdown against Mustangs on a five-yard QB draw in the second quarter. “As a team, we took a lot of steps. There’s always a chance we could win. Basically, even just the way we played, that says a lot. Against a Tier 2 team, for a Tier 4 team, a small school, we did great. The big thing is taking steps forward for a provincial title.”
Regardless of where Bobcats finish in RVSA, they will play into a Tier 4 regional seeding game following the regular season. So the more reps they get against higher-tier teams in their division, the better prepared they’ll be to play fellow Tier 4 schools in the playoffs later this fall.
“Just practice. I’m still a bit fidgety in the pocket and everything,” Vincent assessed of his performance against George Mac’s swarming defence. “I’m starting to trust my offensive line. They are looking good. And they play both ways too (on offence and defence), so credit to them. They played both ways and still played a heck of a game. Basically, we just keep getting better. And that’s the goal.”
Bobcats head coach Steve Hall was encouraged by his team’s Sept. 18 performance against Mustangs.
“I think we made some big steps over last week’s performance. Offence especially. We’re going to have to work on some things to keep that progress going,” Hall said. “It feels great. The kids, obviously, played with a lot of heart. They gave it everything they had.”
