The Stettler Cougars faced a tough opponent when heading to Lacombe on Saturday, Sept. 26, and though they did their best to harry the home team, came home with a loss of 48-24.
According to Laurie Myshaniuk, who works with the team, the players "stepped up and worked hard to keep closing the gap."
Steele Nichols brought in two touchdowns for the team and completed his converts, racking up 18 of Stettler's 24 points. Quarterback Carson Neitz managed to break through the clutches of Lacombe's defence at one point to bring in a touchdown of his own as well.
"The Cougars' defence was often referred to as a wall by the Lacombe announcer, and that they were," Myshaniuk said. "They kept control of the game and held on to the end."
Head coach Mark Neitz said that despite the loss, he was very proud of the boys on the team.
"Losses aren't the end of the world, we get to evaluate and grow from them," he said. "There was plenty of adversity going into the game against Lacombe, injuries hampered our line up, but substitutions came in and performed admirably."
Neitz said he felt for those who were sidelined by injuries and hope they recover quickly, but the team will now be focusing on its next game, another toughie, against Hunting Hills.
"If we come ready to work this week I believe we can perform well by game day," he said.