Practice made perfect for the Foothills Falcons on Friday.
The Foothills Falcons were ready for the creativity playbook of the Catholic Central Cougars and won the turnover with three interceptions and two forced fumbles to edge the Lethbridge squad 17-7 on Oct. 4 in Okotoks.
“It was reacting well and making plays and the kids are looking more comfortable and confident,” said Falcons head coach Nathan St. Dennis. “It was tough preparing this week because (Catholic Central) run a whole bunch of formations so it was longer practices.
“The kids did a great job of buying in and were committed to it, that’s a lot of for a teenage schedule with school and three-plus hours, but it shows on Friday night like this.”
Falcons defensive back Asher Nelson kickstarted the effort on Friday with a strip sack of the Cougars inside the Foothills red zone.
“I know it sounds cliché, but it’s always never give up,” Nelson said. “It was my guy and I needed to get there and it just happened that the ball was right there and I had my arm there and got it.”
Foothills took advantage of the change of possession, marching the ball down field with quarterback Emerson Liepert scrambling into the end zone late in the first quarter.
Foothills then forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, leading to a field goal.
The Cougars were threating to get on the board late in the half with Foothills’ Darrian Campbell stopping their momentum with a key interception in the secondary.
Two plays later, Liepert ran it to the house for a 50-yard touchdown run.
“Practice was super important, we went over a lot of their motions, their jet, their sweep,” said Nelson. “And a lot of is read and react, especially as a safety, and that comes with the defence as a whole.
“We were feeling really prepared.”
In the second half, the Falcons defence stepped up in causing two more red zone turnovers with Nelson corralling a pair of touchdown saving interceptions in the end zone.
“We’ve got about five kids that don’t really come off the field and Asher is one of them,” St. Dennis said. “He’s a Grade 12, we don’t have many of those either, so we’re relying on him and he played great. He was able to react well, be a leader.
“And (Darrian) is brand new to football, he’s played basketball and he wanted to come out and play and he’s done a great job. We’re really excited about his potential.”
The win comes at an opportune time with Foothills going into its bye week and nursing some injuries.
“It was bend don’t break,” the coach added. “And we’re definitely seeing that getting better theme from the defence and it’s got to continue.”
Foothills is next in action at home in its annual Blackout Game versus the Strathmore Spartans on Oct. 18. The Falcons close the regular season on the road on Oct. 25 at the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams.
“This gets us closer to being able to make it into the playoffs,” Nelson said. “The important game is still L.C.I., that will determine it, but this is definitely a giant step forward.”
