Blink and you may have missed out on a Comet shower hitting the northeast edge of Okotoks on Friday.
The Raymond Comets soared to a 28-0 lead at the half and held on for a comfortable 37-13 triumph over the Holy Trinity Academy Knights in high school football action, Friday night at Knights Field.
“We talked about it during the week and last year they did the same thing — they jumped on us out of the gate,” lamented Knights head coach Matt Hassett. “And we’re just not a team that can play from behind. We’re a running football team, we’re a power football team.”
Raymond, seven-time Tier 1 provincial champions, opened the scoring late in the first-quarter with some flair as slotback Rhett Ellingson kickstarted a brilliant evening with a one-handed touchdown reception.
The Grade 12 Comet would soon double the advantage on special teams. Ellingson returned a punt from 45 yards out untouched into the end-zone for a backbreaking score early in the second quarter.
“I remember running through the middle and all the green guys shifted over to the left of the field and I cut back through the middle,” he said. “It was wide open to the end-zone.”
The Comets would add to the Knights’ misery by taking advantage of an HTA fumble at midfield and converting on a 30-yard run through the posts. HTA would again turn the ball over with just 10 seconds on the clock when quarterback Spencer Kiranas was picked off at midfield. Raymond would quickly get itself into the red-zone on a hook-and-ladder reception and took advantage of a gap in the Knights’ cover-four defence with a 20-yard touchdown reception on the final play of the half.
The host’s performance was Knight and day after the restart.
Nick Villarreal showcased his foot speed and returned the second half kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown, the second straight week the Grade 12 receiver registered a special teams score, to finally give the HTA faithful something to talk about.
“I was just angry. I couldn’t believe it was 28-0, we let our guard down,” Villarreal said. “I just wanted to kick the second-half off with a bang.
“We definitely rallied after that. Offence and defence started playing a lot better and we won the second half.”
Save for a safety conceded rather than punting out of its end-zone, HTA kept the high-flying Comets off the scoreboard in the third quarter.
The Knights would further cut into the deficit when Kiranas skied a looping pass into the left of the end-zone and in the outstretched arms of Villarreal from 40 yards out.
HTA would miss its two subsequent two-point conversion, making it a 30-13 game with two minutes on the clock.
“It was just a Hail Mary, run and get the ball,” Villarreal said. “Me and Spence have a lot of chemistry. He trusted me to catch the ball and I trusted him to make the right pass.”
The Comets weren’t done just yet and showcased their two-minute offence in finding the end-zone for the first time in the half. After posting scoring plays through the air and on special teams, Ellingson capped off a special night with his third touchdown as he ran it in from 20 yards out.
“Terrible first half. Offence, special teams. Defence was okay, we played in a lot of short fields,” Hassett said. “I just said forget the first half, go out and win the second half.
“I was proud of the way the guys rebounded, but we just can’t let good teams jump on us like they did.”
The Knights immediately shifted their focus on a game circled on every foothills football fans’ calendar.
The annual Okotoks high school football derby between the Knights and Foothills Composite Falcons goes on Oct. 9 at HTA (7 p.m. kick-off). At stake is top-spot in the Big Rock Football Conference with both teams boasting undefeated in-conference records.
“We talked about it a little bit in the end-zone,” Hassett said. “It’s a special rivalry, I think it’s great for both schools, both teams. The whole town gets pretty excited about it, there is a lot of chatter about it.
“It’s for first place in the league and it should be a lot of fun.”
