The Bow Valley Wolverines are limping into the playoffs, but are looking forward to a fresh start in their first round playoff match Friday (Oct. 30) against the High River Mustangs in Okotoks.
The Canmore squad is on a three-game Big Rock Conference losing streak, and will face a hungry opponent willing to exact revenge from their last meeting – a 36-7 Wolverines win.
Head coach Wade Buckley isn’t taking the Mustangs lightly this time, especially with the season on the line in sudden death playoffs.
“As much as we beat them last time, this is a completely different ball game. We are on a losing streak. They are getting a few guys back. We feel we know the team pretty well and hopefully we’re able to expose their weaknesses,” Buckley said.
The key to victory for the Wolverines, Buckley says, is neutralizing the Mustangs’ short pass game, while letting their talented runners get to work on offence.
“We have three or four strong runners. Luke Murphy is coming back from injury, and he’s a game changer. George Reed is an emerging player for us. He has shown he can make a difference,” Buckley said.
Murphy and Jackson Howatt were unstoppable the last time the teams played, and both will be counted on again, as will Max Ruane and Zack Waldbauer.
On defence, the Wolverines have gotten into trouble of late, as they’ve struggled to adapt to their opponents.
“We’re working on our tackling and awareness. It’s not so much the runners we’ve faced of late are exceptional – although a few have been – but we don’t adjust. When a team notices a weakness, they expose it again and again and again,” Buckley said.
“On defence we hope we can shut down High River and build confidence early on and build a pattern of success.”
The Wolverines have added two new hulking offensive linemen they hope to deploy against the Mustangs, and build up for next year. On offence, Buckley said the Wolverines have a few tricks up their sleeve. If they build a lead early, several players will be rested to prepare for the second round.
“We’ll stick to our strengths, put in the runs and a couple of trick plays we hope we can bring out early,” Buckley said.
The Wolverines don’t want to look ahead of the Mustangs, but if they win, they will face Olds in the second round on Nov. 6. Olds is ranked eighth in the province among Tier IV schools, and present a challenge for the Wolverines.
“They are ranked higher than Drumheller, who gave us trouble this year, so we’ll be in for a challenge,” Buckley said.
