Wm. E Hay’s Wildcats had a great league opener last week beating their hosts Sylvan Lake 28-8 on their own territory on Thursday, Sept. 2 raising hopes for a great 2010 season for Stettler football.
Landon Potter, Jared Steinwand, Wyatt Haustein and Ricky Armstrong all scored a touchdown each while Anton Stewart converted two of the four kicks after the touchdowns.
Wildcats head coach Norbert Baharally was pleased with the performance of his players and cautiously optimistic for the future.
“We played quite a good game, a very tough game as a team,” said Baharally.
“Offensively, we still have a few rusty spots we need to work on.”
‘We had at least four opportunities in the first half to score but we couldn’t finish on them.”
Baharally had some words of praise for Wyatt Haustein, who scored a touchdown despite being a defense player.
“Wyatt Haustein had three interceptions, he had a fumble recovery for a touchdown. He is a solid force on defense and his punting was good. He had a very good average,” said Baharally.
He also said the defense had a firm performance in general.
“Our defense played well. It was the defense that kept us in the game for the most part,” he said.
The Wildcats now prepare to host Rocky Mountain House on Friday afternoon at 4.30 p.m. at the high school football field.
“They won their first game, as well. They beat Wetaskiwin 20-3,” said Baharally.
“It looks like it is going to be a good game.”
In the other game of the home teams, Stettler’s bantam Cougars won their league opener on home grass at the end of a nail-biter fourth quarter, during which a few defensive errors almost cost the game: Cougars 30 -Sylvan Lake Lions 26
The game started with quite high pitch fan support for the visiting team as the Cougars tried to establish their dominance on the field.
After the end of the first quarter, the local boys slowly but surely gained confidence, scoring their first touchdown of the game and gradually taking control of most parts of the field both offensively and defensively.
In the third quarter, the Cougars picked up even a faster pace and scored three more touchdowns to lead the game 30-12.
But it was in the fourth quarter that the defense became porous and Sylvan Lake managed to make quick inroads to the Cougars territory, resulting two back-to-back touchdowns.
Just 16 seconds from regulation, the Lions had another first down within the 15-yardline of Cougars half of the field, but the game ended without any new score on the board.
“We were fortunate to escape with the win,” said Cougars head coach Mike Roach.
“Defensively we were too soft. We allowed Sylvan Lake to score first and then we gave them a long touchdown run on the very last play of the first half.”
“We played an almost perfect third quarter,” said Roach.
“The defense allowed no first downs and the offense put up three TDs and was good on two of three converts for a 30 to 12 lead. In the fourth quarter, we reverted to our old ways. We had two or three fumbles and had several penalties to stop drives.”
Coach Roach said in preparation for Saturday’s home game against Wetaskiwin, they would work on ball security, tackling, blocking and minimizing penalties.
Nicholas Baharally, one of the most prolific players against the Lions, received an injury towards the end of the fourth quarter and had to be carried outside the field. It is not known if he is to play against Wetaskiwin.
According to the game stats made available, Baharally had 171 yards rushing on 10 carries, five yards receiving, scoring one touchdown, three converts for six points.
Stephen Zuk was two of six in passing for 10 yards; Austin Peterson had 97 yards on nine carries, two touchdowns and a five-yard receiving touchdown.
Ryan Gerl had 63 yards on nine carries, Thomas Cassidy 11 yards on three carries and Darren Gendre had one carry for 11 yards.
On the visiting side, Shon Zenert scored three touchdowns and rushed for over 200 yards.
The Cougars are to host Wetaskiwin at 1 p.m. at the high school football field on Saturday, Sept. 11 after the peewee game between Stettler Panthers and Lacombe Explosion.