Fifteen centimetres of snow and Drumheller’s dreaded double wing offence wreaked havoc with the Bow Valley Wolverines on Saturday (Oct. 3), but the adversity only added to some of the best Big Rock Conference football action the Bow Valley has seen in years.
Playing their second game in four days, the Wolverines fell 54-36 to the Drumheller Titans on a snowy Saturday at Millennium Field, dropping their record to 3-4 on the season. Heroic runs, big hits and a never say die approach proliferated the game in what has become a fierce rivalry with the Tier III opponents.
“I was really impressed with our resiliency – the way we hung on. Every time they scored, we put up some points. Towards the end of the game, we couldn’t stop their counter and their sweep, and they knew it. They punished us,” said head coach Wade Buckley.
For the Wolverines, running backs Luke Murphy and Jackson Howatt, both scored two touchdowns, while Max Ruane added one of his own to power the offence.
“Luke Murphy ran two special team touchdowns back. It was electric. Jackson, the way he runs the ball is sensational. He could be successful at the next level … Next year, it’s scary to think where he’s going to be,” Buckley said.
Quarterback Matt Mahler was solid, but his deadly passing game was shelved in the second half due to the cold temperatures. Buckley took the blame for pushing too much passing on a cold and sloppy field.
“I was at fault,” Buckley said. “I held onto the play calling of passing a little too long. I know our strength is our pass. We have unreal receivers and our quarterback’s got a rocket for an arm. But (in this weather) the ball is like a cinder block and trying to catch that thing is like catching a fish at pike place,” Buckley said.
The Wolverines fell behind by two touchdowns early in the first quarter, and the game appeared to be set for a blowout. The pass offence sputtered, however, Ruane came to the rescue with a 22-yard run to bring the Wolverines back.
“When we got to the run, we have two power backs and that was successful. I should have gone to that earlier, but that’s the way it goes,” said Buckley.
The Drumheller double wing offence gave the Wolverines fits, as they picked up huge gains, plowing through the Wolverines’ defensive line. Buckley said they tried to cut down the lead blockers and stop the run, but were unsuccessful.
“That formation, the double wing, you never see it. It’s effective. We practiced for it all week. They were able to have four lead blockers and a lot of distraction … there were some plays our guy was touching the guy with the ball, but didn’t know the ball was there because there was so much confusion,” Buckley said.
But every time Drumheller threatened to pull away, the Wolverines stormed right back. In the fourth quarter, Murphy ran for a 73-yard touchdown to bring the score to 42-36 with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Wolverines got.
Howatt said the weather affected his game, but said both teams had to contend with it. He still managed to pick up about 200 rushing yards, so he found a way to cope.
“We’ve got to get used to it. It’s going to be like this for the rest of the season, but it’s pretty hard. The ball is slippery and hard for receivers to catch. You can’t cut very well. I just tried to explode off the line as hard as I could. The O-line was blocking great, so there was lots of room for me to run,” Howatt said.
Quarterback Mahler said he wasn’t as effective, because of the weather, but doesn’t think the snow was an excuse for the loss.
“I’m not making excuses, but the weather was heavy on me. We were forced to run a lot and they had a bigger, stronger run game than us. The ball dropped like a brick out of the sky when I threw it. The receivers’ gloves were wet, so wet leather on wet plastic doesn’t connect too well,” Mahler said.
The Wolverines now have two weeks off before they face Claresholm on Oct. 17 in their last regular season game of the year, which is plenty of time to heal up. Zach Waldbauer, arguably the team’s MVP, was knocked out of Saturday’s game with a concussion and will be re-assessed, while the Wolverines were also missing six linebackers.
Their provincial ranking has dropped from fourth to tenth in Tier IV schools (schools of 449 students or less) across Alberta, which means they could end up with a tough first round playoff match on Oct. 23.
“We have definitely lost some spots in ranking, and we might have to play a tougher opponent in the first round. Our goal is the championship, so we would have had to play them anyways,” Buckley said.
Mahler and Howatt are confident the team can advance in the playoffs. Howatt believes it’s the best team he’s played on in his three years with the Wolverines, and Mahler says a big playoff run is in their future.
“My goal is at least the third round. That is really what I want,” Mahler said. “Last year we definitely had a rough season, but several guys have really stepped it up over the summer.”
Next season, Buckley would like to see a Tier IV league set up, so schools of equal size could play one another more often. Currently, divisions are based on geography, which results in matches against much larger schools such as Holy Trinity.
“I’ve talked to coaches keen on setting up a Tier IV division. Why it hasn’t been done before, I have no idea,” Buckley said. “(Tier IV) games, I love coaching them, players love playing them, we get our rookies in and it’s competitive. I want to see more of it.”
