The Springbank Phoenix’ quest to become the second Rocky View football team heading to provincials ended on its home field last week.
With a 36-0 loss to the Foothills Falcons of Okotoks in an Alberta Tier 2 regional qualifier on Nov. 5, the Phoenix also concluded its season – one that head coach Tony Lucas said was filled with plenty of success along the way, including last week’s thrilling Rocky View Sports Association’s gold medal win.
“At this school we haven’t reached divisional qualifiers for a dozen years, so this team was in unchartered territory,” he said following the loss to Foothills. “It was a good year overall and they established something for the program for the future.”
Springbank’s troubles against Okotoks began early, as senior quarterback Joel Stagg fumbled on the team’s first play from scrimmage.
The Falcons, who are ranked No. 4 in the province, recovered and promptly scored a touchdown on their second play.
Stagg threw interceptions on the Phoenix’s next two possessions and the Falcons made him pay with two more touchdowns.
“When you’re tentative and nervous against a good opponent, that’s what is going to happen,” Lucas said. “We would have still had a tough time beating them if we had played our absolute best. They’re a good team, but if we don’t play well ourselves we don’t have a chance. We got intimidated at the beginning; the same thing happened when we played Cochrane.”
Following the Falcons’ two-yard touchdown run 4:22 into the second quarter, to make the score 27-0, Stagg couldn’t handle a punt snap and had to fall on the ball in the Phoenix’s endzone for a safety. He was hurt on the play and didn’t return for the second half.
“He got hit on one shoulder on a pass play, then he got hit on the other shoulder trying to recover the bad snap in the endzone,” Lucas said. “It was his last game as a high school player and he likes to play even when he’s hurt, but even he couldn’t play.”
Foothills would add another touchdown before half to increase the lead to 36-0.
Levi Jackson, Springbank’s backup quarterback, came in and led the Phoenix to its best chance of the game eight minutes into the third quarter – a 25-yard field goal attempt that the Falcons blocked.
“He could start on a lot of teams, but he doesn’t have much experience so the first couple plays he was a little tentative,” Lucas said of Jackson. “Once he got settled down, he made some plays. All signs point towards him starting in Grade 11.”
Lucas added his team played a much better second half because the seniors wanted to end their high school careers on a high note.
“After the first half we were a little embarrassed, as it’s our field and it was 36-0. We wanted to let them know we were still here to play. We calmed down at halftime and started playing hard and gained more confidence. I’m really proud of our team.”
The Cochrane Cobras are the final RVSA team playing this season. They will host Brooks in a Tier 3 provincial quarterfinal at 1 p.m. on Nov. 13.
