Starting the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) football season with a 21-0 Sept. 12 win over Chestermere, the Bow Valley High School Bobcats have struggled the rest of the way.
Now at 1-5 (including playoffs), the fourth-place Bobcats have still earned a shot at the RVSA Division bronze medal in an Oct. 25 tilt against third-place Phoenix (3-3) at Springbank High School’s Josh Palmer football field.
The Bobcats put up a fight against first-place Cochrane High School Cobras in their final regular-season tilt at their crosstown rivals’ field Oct. 18, but succumbed 36-6 after holding Cobras to just two first-half scores.
“I think we might have caught them a little by surprise,” Bobcats head coach Scott Allard said of the CHS game. “We were really happy with the defence for sure. Offensively, we’re still struggling a little bit.”
Now it’s off to Springbank, which defeated Bow Valley 43-15 in their Oct. 9 regular-season matchup.
Allard feels the final score of that tilt did not tell the tale of the game.
“It’s funny with them. I look at the scores with the rest of the league. Then I look at the scores with Springbank against us,” he recounted. “We’ve had a better showing than most teams. I don’t know what it is.”
Springbank is the enigma of this year’s RVSA football offering, scoring just 12 more points that it allowed in compiling a 3-2 regular-season record. The Phoenix lost 14-7 to George Mac Mustangs in the Oct. 18 playoff opening round.
At this point in the season, Allard is focussing on the details in Bow Valley’s attempt to come out of Springbank with the bronze.
“We’re basically working on everything we’ve been doing so far. It’s becoming more lean and clean,” he surmised. “That’s the focus. If offence would run exactly what they needed to run and guys were going where they should go, things go a lot cleaner. Our defence is playing tough. We’ve shown that in a few games now. What it comes down to is consistency.”
