Rams, Comets, Rebels advance

By Dale Woodard on November 16, 2021.

The LCI Rams and Raymond Comets have advanced in the Football Alberta provincial playoffs.

For that, the two southern Alberta rivals will face each other this weekend.

Again.

Playing in the Tier I South Zone semi-finals Saturday afternoon, the sixth-ranked Rams toppled the Calgary Ernest Manning Griffins – ranked seventh – 27-10 in Calgary.

Meanwhile in Okotoks, the Comets got past the Foothills Falcons 44-7.

With the wins, the Rams and Comets will square off for the third time this season as the two lock horns in the Tier I South Championship Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the University of Lethbridge Stadium.

The Rams and Comets weren’t the only local teams to advance and earn a South final berth.

In Tier IV, the fifth-ranked Taber W.R. Myers Rebels beat the Canmore Wolverines 38-7 in Taber to advance to this weekend’s South Zone championship in Drumheller versus the second-seeded Titans.

The Titans beat the ninth-ranked Claresholm Willow Creek Cobras 19-12 in the other Southern semifinal Saturday in Drumheller.

See Wednesday’s Herald for the Rebels story and an advance for Saturday’s game.

In other South Zone action last weekend, the Winston Churchill Bulldogs lost 57-0 to the Cochrane Cobras in the South Division semifinal Friday in Cochrane.

On Saturday in Calgary, Carson Procee turned in a one-man wrecking crew performance as the Rams powered their way past Ernest Manning.

“It was a great game,” said Rams head coach Patrick Leahy. “Ernest Manning is consistently extremely well-coached and they have a lot of kids who are Team Alberta-calibre kids who are going to go on and play at the next level. So we knew we would have our hands full.”

The Griffins scored first, but it didn’t take long for LCI to grab the upper hand as quarter Crew Hirsche threw a 75-yard touchdown down the sidelines to Zane Letourneau that tied it up.

“It was the perfect throw and Zane ran an awesome route, untouched on the sideline into the end zone,” said Leahy.

With about a minute-and-a-half left in the second quarter, Hirsche went to the air to find Procee in the back of the end zone for a 14-7 lead at the half.

Five minutes into the third quarter the Rams took over with Procee providing some highlight reel footage, taking a short pass from Hirsche.

“He ran for a 24-yard gain where he hurdled over a defending,” said Leahy. “I’ve honestly never seen something like that happen in a game I’ve been involved in. It was one of the most incredible plays I’ve ever seen.

“We’ve known all along from seeing him practise and talking to the kid that he’s a special talent on the football field and (Saturday) was the first time we really saw him take over a game. It was the Carson Procee show from about the second quarter on.”

Not done yet, Procee intercepted a pass with five minutes left in the third quarter, broke two tackles and ran it back for a pick six for 36 yards.

“He was a man possessed out there,” said Leahy.

Blake Van Bruggen caught a seven-yard pass from Hirsche in the end zone to round out the scoring for LCI.

Hirsche passed for over 190 yards and two touchdowns.

“They shut us down in the box pretty effectively on the ground, so we had to go to the air a little bit,” said Leahy. “Crew had been fighting with an injury for the better part of six or seven weeks. He has had to kind of reinvent himself to be a pocket passer and he’s done an awesome job. He played really well and the defence was lights out. They didn’t have an inch to breath for most of the game. It just came together for us.”

For the Comets, a cozy lead at halftime allowed Raymond to get some backups in for the second half of the South semifinal.

“The kids played hard,” said Comets head coach Connor Ralph. “A lot of kids got in the game, which was awesome. The whole second was some of our young kids. So I think it was good to reward them because they practice hard all year, so it was good to give them some time. There was a lot of positives. Some things they need to work on, but that’s to be expected. It was good for them to get experience and learn.”

See Friday’s Herald for a advance on Saturdays’ Comets and Rams game.

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