Covy Moore / Rocky View Publishing

The George McDougall Mustangs and the Bert Church Chargers are preparing for their 2012 football season. The annual Airdrie Bowl will be held Oct. 4 at the Genesis Place Field, and will see the Mustangs defending its title from last year.

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Local Rocky View Schools football clubs set for season

The 2012 Rocky View Schools (RVS) high school football season is set to start with a 12-on-12 exhibition jamboree in Chestermere on Sept. 7, and both Airdrie teams are looking forward to the tournament.

With a hefty number of new players but a solid core of veterans, Bert Church Chargers Head Coach Andy Kirk says he hopes to see improvement out of his new bunch.

He said he also wants to see an improvement on last year’s 2W-4L record.

“Anything above 500 would be great,” said Kirk. “The kids are a real dedicated group. We have a great core of guys in terms of their personality and leadership ability. We are going to be a young group this year though. There are quite a few that have never even played.”

The Chargers are two weeks into training, and will be leaving next week for a trip to Washington to watch some NFL action as well as take on a high school from the region.

“It’s a team-building thing primarily,” said Kirk. “We are using it to create some excitement with these guys for football this year.”

In their opening game, the Chargers take on the Cochrane Cobras, a team that has proven itself as a powerhouse in the RVS League, and Kirk wants his players to come out and see what they can learn from the Cochrane group.

“We want to maintain our discipline and focus on the things we need to improve on,” said Kirk.

“Any time you play Cochrane you can learn from it. Games against Cochrane are always character-building.”

On the west side of town, George McDougall Mustang’s Head Coach Brent Legault is hoping to top last year’s second-place finish in the RVS football league.

“We had a great season, it was pretty much everything we expected. We were hoping for a bit stronger of a finish,” said Legault. “I am anticipating the returning players will have learned a lot from the playoffs and we’ll take that strength with us and make a great year.”

Leagult said roughly two-thirds of the team are returning from last year, adding he is giving leadership roles to a number of players, in hopes of pushing them further into the playoffs this year.

Legault has moved standout running back Josh Duazo to wide receiver, and is hoping for big things out of kicker Lance Villemaire, running back Mitch Wiebe and quarterback Jordan Groves.

“Even though (Duazo) won running back of the year in his rookie year, (the position of wide receiver) was where we can make him an effective weapon,” said Legault. “He is a multi-faceted player and he has done really well at it. He is adapting to it and pushing hard to make his level of play higher so he can adjust.”

Both teams are looking forward to the annual Airdrie Bowl game, which will be held Oct. 4 at the Genesis Place football field, and George McDougall will be looking to defend its title from last year.

“The kids obviously like that game,” said Kirk. “It’s a school pride issue, it’s great for the community. (Legault) has done a great job over there, we look forward to the challenge.”