Thursday night lights -- yes, you read that correctly -- are set to highlight Okotoks football.
The annual Battle of Okotoks high school football showdown hits the gridiron at Knights field on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. with Holy Trinity Academy welcoming the Foothills Falcons for the cross-town fixture.
“It’s always one of the biggest game on our schedule because of that crosstown rivalry and that’s what it should be,” said HTA head coach Matt Hassett. “I think all of the kids in town look forward to it.”
Both teams are off to strong starts in the 2024 campaign.
The Knights are 4-0 and ranked first among 4A schools in the province, having reached the 40-point plateau in all of its games, while the Falcons are 2-1 and fresh off a rebound victory over Calgary’s Bishop O’Byrne Bobcats.
“We’re always excited for it,” said Falcons head coach Nathan St. Dennis. “We know they’re very good, they’ve got some great talent for sure. It will be good for our guys, especially our young guys, to be a part of that tradition.
“And keep trying to get better against great opponents, you can’t help but learn from it.”
The Falcons last earned bragging rights in the fixture in 2018 with HTA boasting victories over the past six meetings.
Last year’s 34-24 HTA triumph was the closest game between the teams in several years.
“It’s going to be a tough one, they’ve got a lot of seniors that have played with each other since peewee,” said Falcons quarterback Emerson Liepert. “I think a good week of practice and we’ve got it.
“Last year’s game was fun, it showed us that they’re a good team, but we can stick with them if we really lock in and go. We’ll try to do use that as a way to focus on this year and try to do the same thing, but result in a win.”
“It was definitely chippy and really strong competition,” added HTA linebacker Jaxon Hand. “That’s the best Comp team we’ve seen in years and hope to see it again.”
