It had all the makings of a miracle finish in Big Sky Conference football.
The Bow Valley Wolverines were down by a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter against rival Springbank Phoenix. Screaming fans in truckbeds filled the sidelines as the prairie school had let students out of class to watch the game. Wolverine Zack Waldbauer, who already had one touchdown to his credit, waited patiently to return a punt, with the tide of the match on his shoulders.
The kick from the 35 yard line was good, pushing Waldbauer into his own end zone. He surveyed the scene in front of him, and began finding holes in the Springbank offence. Gathering speed, the run switched from improbable to unstoppable. The 30, the 20, the 10 – the team’s veteran had scored a 117-yard return, to bring the score to 21-20 Springbank. The crowd was shocked. The Wolverines’ sidelines went wild.
But, as with all sport, heartbreak can arrive just as quickly as elation. The Wolverines decided to play it safe and not go for a two-point conversion and the win. Instead, the kick for a single was a miss and Springbank got the win in a nailbiter.
“It’s such a heartbreaker, when you have 30 seconds left in the game and a chance to tie it up. We thought about going for two, but decided against it. Nothing is a sure thing in football,” coach Wade Buckley said. “It was a case of fatigue. I don’t want to pin it on anyone.”
The Wolverines will have a lot to work on before Friday’s (Sept. 25) game against Highwood in High River, as they’ve learned they can’t rely on heroic efforts by star players. Everyone must play well to win.
“We had strong individual performances, but as a team it seemed there was always one player on the play not pulling his weight. That will cost us,” Buckley said.
Small mental mistakes may have cost the game late, but the head coach said there were plenty of positives from the team. The Wolverines scored on the first drive, when Waldbauer caught a 50 yard pass from Matt Mahler to open scoring. Max Waldbauer wasn’t about to let his brother get all the glory in the first quarter, as he intercepted a pass and turned it into a 40-yard touchdown run.
“We played fantastic. We came out the strongest I’ve ever seen us. We scored on our opening drive. We converted two deep passes for 40-plus yards. We really took the wind out of their sails,” Buckley said.
The High River game will be their last match on the road before they finally get to play at home on Sept. 29 against Holy Trinity. The Wolverines are quite familiar with Highwood and want to use the game as a building block.
“We play them every year. We know them,” said Buckley. “We know what their strengths and weaknesses are. We’re pretty confident going into this game. We’re trying not to go over our heads, but we’re going to give the rookies some playing time.
“We want our offence and defence to be effective, as they’ve been each game. We want them to keep climbing that ladder.”
The home opener at Millennium Field takes place Sept. 29 at 4 p.m., and Buckley said fans should expect entertaining Wolverines football.
“Hopefully we don’t have a case of stagefright like Springbank did when we played them. The fans can expect to see a fast, fun offence and a hard hitting, bend-but-don’t-break defence.”
