Friday Night Lights brought mixed results in Okotoks high school football.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights earned a massive 53-10 win over the Medicine Hat High Hawks in a battle of the two top ranked teams at the 4A level in the province to kickstart the Okotoks home opener double-header Friday with the Foothills Falcons falling 27-7 to the Cardston Cougars in the night cap.
"We weren't looking to send a statement, we're just looking to get better each week," said HTA head coach Matt Hassett. "I thought we didn't start very well, Hat High played really well out of the gate.
"It's partially because it was a bit of a trap game coming back from the States and we have our normal bottle drive with a short week of practice and that showed early. They came to play and did really well in the first half and we didn't and we cleaned a few things up at halftime and after that some of the things on offence, they just couldn't get any more."
HTA, the top-ranked 4A team, shook off a tough start with the visitors scoring on their opening drive and its defence forcing two quick punts.
Knights receiver Ben Gutek then scored his first of three touchdowns on a 60-plus yard connection with quarterback Declan Lyth. The Knights took their first lead when Caden McCullough's long catch and run got the team into the red-zone with star runningback Seth Poelzer then punching in the next play on a 19-yard scamper.
The Knights broke the game wide open in the second quarter with Gutek adding a second receiving touchdown, Malik Robbins scoring on a 50-yard punt return and the team adding a 24-yard field goal to take a 29-0 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Warner Danard made a key catch in traffic to set up another Poelzer touchdown. Grade 10 quarterback Nash Marzoff then showcased his skills late in the contest with a 35-yard connection with Gutek. Ferris Funk, another Grade 10 talent, punched in the final major on a 33-yard darting run into the end zone.
"They seemed to be keying on Seth quite a bit and that left some of our receivers wide open, Ben had a big day," Hassett said.
"Declan has worked on his strength, he's always been good at the pocket read moves, it buys him that bit of extra time to get the throw off and he had that one touchdown where he took a big hit as a he released it and threw a strike right to Ben."
Friday marked the first meeting between the southern Alberta squads since the Knights rolled to a 50-3 triumph in the Tier II provincial quarterfinals last November.
Across town, the Falcons couldn't crawl out of an early hole to a high-octane Cougars squad in the 27-7 loss.
Cardston built a 27-0 lead in the first half with Jarom Hubbard opening the scoring on an 80 yard catch and run touchdown, adding another on special teams with a punt return major.
The Falcons, the fifth-ranked team at the 4A level, rallied in the second half and got on the scoreboard late with quarterback Emerson Liepert capping a strong fourth quarter drive with a goalline run.
Foothills is looking to build on a strong 2023 campaign which saw the Falcons advance to the Tier 1 Larry Wilson provincial final, where they were edged out 34-27 by the Salisbury Sabres in overtime.
The Falcons and Cougars last met in week three of the 2023 campaign, a 12-0 victory for the Okotoks squad.
Foothills remains home next week for a Friday night clash versus Calgary’s Bishop O’Byrne Bobcats on Sept. 13. Next week, HTA welcomes Catholic Central for a Sept. 13 clash at 7:30 p.m.
On Sept. 19, a Thursday, the Knights host the Falcons for the annual Battle of Okotoks.
