Jackson Howatt’s 80-yard touchdown run and Danny Scurfield was a monster on the offensive line, as the Bow Valley Wolverines edged Taber 15-8 on Saturday (Sept. 12) at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
“It was an incredibly evenly matched affair, with both teams marching the ball down the field, and the defences playing bend but don’t break style, not giving up many points,” said Wolverine head coach Wade Buckley.
The Wolverines didn’t make things easy on themselves, as Taber recovered the opening kickoff and marched 30 yards for a touchdown, which ratcheted up the pressure on the Bow Valley offense. The Wolverines running game was stalled, as they could not break the Taber missed a field goal, but still picked up the lone point to lead 8-0 at the half.
With the Wolverines very much still in the game, Buckley made several adjustments to kick start the offence and strengthen the defence, which paid immediate dividends.
“We made a few defensive adjustments, including moving our linebackers into a position that would better contain their outside runs. We also stopped running the ball inside and focused more on the pass,” Buckley said.
The adjustments helped the defence significantly, and the offence found its groove. Quarterback Matt Mahler threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Zak Waldbauer to get the Wolverines on the board.
“Our defence played a lot better, and with less penalties on offence we were able to increase our first downs and overall efficiency,” Buckley said.
In the fourth quarter, Howatt came to the rescue on defence with his heroic touchdown run, setting up a dramatic finish.
“Howatt intercepted a deep throw and ran it back 80 years for a defensive touchdown. Luke Murphy ran in the two-point convert to extend our lead to seven points, 15-8,” Buckley said. “There was confusion between the timer and the referee, which resulted in a delay of game penalty that gave them a chance to even the score with ten seconds to go, but our defence did their job and we came away with the win.”
Buckley said Howatt was a key player throughout the match, as was Max Ruane, Danny Scurfield and Zak Waldbauer.
“Danny Scurfield, whose play on the o-line was error-free, was efficient in his role as linebacker. Ruane was involved in every play on D and special teams. Zak Wauldbauer has been such a leader on our team that everyone else has taken up his habits of working hard every practice and never getting down even when the other team is rolling,” Buckley said.
