Stettler Wildcats have been on a winning streak so far as they overcame Wetaskiwin in an away game 37-0 on Friday, Sept. 23.
With five touchdowns from Steele Nichols, Teron Garbutt, Jordan Lane, Noah McKay and Cooper Smyth, and subsequent converts from Steele Nichols and a safety goal from the defence, the Stettler team made the second half look easy, even though they faced a well-balanced Wetaskiwin team.
Proud of this win, Head Coach Norbert Baharally said, “This game was our toughest challenge for us thus far this year.”
According to Baharally, Wetaskiwin were very prepared and played the boys very well. The score was 0-0 at halftime and Wildcats were just not able to break into the opponents’ defence and get anything going offensively.
“Wetaskiwin had a very big offensive line and were able to sustain long drives with their running game,” said Baharally. “They controlled the ball for almost 10 minutes in the second quarter, which did not give us a lot of time with the ball for our offence. Even though our defence allowed them to control the ball with long possessions and drives we still were able to hold them to 0 points in the first half.”
Reflecting the same thoughts, Guy Neitz, offensive and quarterbacks coordinator said, “Wetaskiwin did a good job of controlling the ball and not giving our offence very many touches in the first half, and the two good drives that we had stalled inside the red zone were due to penalties and mistakes.”
In the second half, Wetaskiwin kicked off to Wildcats and the boys called a reverse. Steele Nichols took the opening kickoff of the second half all the way back for a touchdown (80 yard return), which was the turning point of the game.
“This was the spark that our team needed to get us fired up,” said Baharally. “The second half was totally different from the first half for us. We were able to get our offence going and establish our high-powered running game (Teron Garbutt 273 yards on 15 carries).”
According to Coach Neitz, this game was a good test for the Wildcats and the team responded well to the “adversity and continued to believe in themselves.”
“When we returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, the whole team really caught on,” added Neitz. “Opposition teams have been concerned with our passing game and it has allowed us a bit more space to run the ball, which Teron Garbutt has taken full advantage of by averaging over 20 yards every time he touches the ball.”