Wm. E Hay’s Wildcats have continued to improve their record with a 26-20 win over Red Deer’s Notre Dame in an away game on Friday, Oct. 1 while the bantam Cougars continue to stagnate having added another loss to their record last Saturday when they played Lindsay Thurber Raiders in Red Deer.
Wildcats head coach Norbert Baharally was cautiously optimistic with regard to the improvement in Wildcats offense which allowed them to score four touchdowns, ending their scoring drought which marked the earlier games.
“It was a pretty intense game and we had three or four lead changes throughout the game,” said Baharally.
“Our defense was not the best as we had seen them and Notre Dame were able to get first downs and they put some long drives together which kept our defense on the field quite a bit.”
“Offensively we scored 26 points, enough points to win but it was a game that could have gone either way right down to the end,” he said.
“But our defense did make some good plays when they needed it.”
Wildcats now play Lacombe on home field on Thursday, Oct.7 at 4 p.m..
“It is going to a tough game,” said Baharally.
“Lacombe is a strong team, they lost only once this season and they had a strong team last season, too.”
Wildcats are hoping that some of the injured players who have been unable to dress for the past few weeks due to injury will now be able take their place in the starting line-up against Lacombe.
Another Stettler team that will be facing opponents from Lacombe are the bantam Cougars.
Having lost to the Raiders 20-0 last week, the Cougars will face a tough battle against the undefeated Lacombe in a night game.
Cougars’ head coach Mike Roach will be relying on the defensive line-up which did a god job against the Raiders.
“The defense played well and kept the Thurber offense off the scoreboard, said Roach.
“The Cougars had seven offensive series and managed one first down. Fumbles on the center - quarterback exchange, poor blocking and penalties stalled any momentum the offense could muster.”
“The Cougars started the second half with the ball but could not move it,” said Roach.
“Two consecutive penalties, an unnecessary roughness and an offside brought back two nice running plays and the Cougars gave up the ball on downs.”
“Stettler almost scored on their last possession when they strung together some nice runs by Josh Weeteringen, but a fumble in the end zone gave the ball to Red Deer.”
The Cougars now fall into a ninth-place tie with Sylvan Lake, Wetaskiwin, and Drumheller.
As for peewee Panthers, they will be playing their last regular season home game against visiting Red Deer Hornets on Saturday morning, Oct.9 at 10p.m.