Bulldogs snakebit by Cobras in Tier III playoffs And rounding out the month:
By Lethbridge Herald on November 9, 2019.
Herald photo by Ian Martens
Winston Churchill Bulldogs Jordin Roberts and Harlen Pinder-Boehm look to stop Cochrane High Cobras Fox Bell, as Cobras Jude Wilkinson follows the play, during Tier III South Region semifinal high school football action Friday night at the University of Lethbridge Stadium. @IMartensHeraldDale Woodard
Lethbridge Herald
The Cobras struck quickly against the Winston Churchill Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs were downed 39-7 by the Cochrane Cobras in the Tier III
South Region semifinal Friday night at the University of Lethbridge
Stadium.
The Cobras scored on their opening drive — which included a faked
punt — and opened up a 29-0 lead by the second quarter.
The Bulldogs managed a little offence late in the first half when
Jordin Roberts grabbed fumble and returned it 60 yards. But 10th-
ranked Winston Churchill was unable to get any closer to the top-
ranked Cobras as Cochrane added one more major in the second half to
seal the win and advance to the South Region final.
“Our guys showed up and they played hard tonight,” said Bulldogs
heads coach Jonathan Dick. “We’re proud of what they’ve
accomplished. Cochrane is a strong team and we knew we had to give it
our best and we feel we put our best team on the field and they played
hard. It’s just Cochran is a strong team, well-coached and lots of
great athletes and we wish them well in the future at provincials. But
we’re proud of our guys and congratulations to our Grade 12 players.
They worked very hard throughout the course of their high school
careers and we couldn’t be prouder of those guys.”
The Cobras opened the scoring early in the first quarter on a Derek
Reid major.
On Cochrane’s next drive, a pass interference call to the Bulldogs
put the ball on the Churchill goal line and Chase Hunt punched it in
from three yards out for a 14-0 lead with 4:38 left in the first
quarter.
Hunt then went in from two yards out early in the second quarter to
put Cochrane up 21-0. Ethan Stanley hauled in a 36-yard touchdown
strike for a 29-0 lead following a successful two-point convert from
Evan Larsen.
But the Bulldogs got on the scoreboard before the first half was over
when Roberts scooped up a loose ball and romped in untouched to make
it 29-7.
“That was like fireworks, that totally revived us,” said Bulldogs
quarterback Kevin Davies of the late touchdown.
The Cobras added a field goal with 1.6 seconds left in the half and
added one more major in the fourth quarter on an 32-yard passing
touchdown to Ty Metcalfe.
The Bulldogs drove deep earlier in the fourth quarter, but were unable
to punch it in from the red zone.
“This was definitely an all-out game,” said Davies. “We were not
just gonna roll over to these guys, especially with Jon having
experiences with these guys when he was in high school. So we really
want to show him we can play hard ourselves as well.”
The Bulldogs graduate a large number of Grade 12s this season.
“We’ll chat with them as we move forward next week, but our
coaching staff couldn’t be prouder of those guys,” said Dick.
“They work their butts off, most of them for the three full years
with the Bulldog program and even with our Bantam program. We’re sad
to see them go but we wish them the best in the future.”
However, that opens the doors for the returnees in 2020.
“We have half a roster coming back next year,” said Dick. “So
hopefully we have some young guys coming up from bantam that can fill
some of the gaps. We’ve got some talent in Grade 10 and 11 that can
step up and fill some shoes.”
But for the Grade 12s, the post game was about multiple photo sessions.
“I’ve been with some of these boys for about 10 years,” said
Davies. “No feelings have changed, I’ve loved him since day one and
I’ll keep loving them.”
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