A balanced offence and disciplined defence paid off for the Bow Valley Wolverines on Friday (Sept. 4) as they recorded their first win of the Big Sky Conference football season, a 28-13 win over Pincher Creek.
“The victory was a result of the guys fighting in the trenches. We had great run blocking and down the field blocking,” said head coach Wade Buckley.
The Wolverines took a 14-7 lead in the first half, and pressed the play in the second half with an aggressive offensive game. Buckley said the score wasn’t indicative of the play, as the Wolverines were in control for most of the match.
“Our offensive drives would fluctuate between being unstoppable and being stuck in the mud. We could have easily put up 35-40 points if we were sharper in our execution,” Buckley said.
In the victory, halfback Max Ruane forced four turnovers, including one fumble he returned for a touchdown and Zach Wauldbauer played nearly the entire game to secure the win. Waldbauer caught a pass from Matt Mahler on a screenplay out of the backfield, while Jackson Howatt ran in two touchdowns of his own to complete the score.
“Max was a force on defence and backed up his words with physical play, recording nearly 10 tackles. He proved he deserved the captaincy we gave him at the start of the year,” Buckley said. “Zak played nearly the entire game, offensively, defensively and special teams. He had the presence of mind to run in a two-point convert when the snap for the extra point try was high. It was another example of the leadership we will need this season if we are to be successful.”
The first-year coach said his team executed its game plan extremely well, as there were very few blown assignments and no penalties. He credited the offensive line for playing a decisive role in the game.
“Our guys played an incredibly balanced game, only allowing one long drive and one other bad play that resulted in a touchdown. Our offence was balanced, focused and executed almost every play efficiently,” Buckley said.
Grade 9 players integrated with the team very well and didn’t back down from the large Pincher Creek side.
“The young kids looked great. We were rotating them in more in the third and fourth quarter and got them some game speed. It’s tough to replicate in practice, but once you see it for the first time, it becomes easier in game situations. To get them all in was a big victory,” Buckley said.
The team is now 1-1 on the season and will try and keep the momentum flowing this week when they play WR Myers at McMahon stadium on Sept. 12. Buckley said the bright lights and big stage shouldn’t phase the team this time, but there are a few elements he wants the team to work on before the game. The team had two conversions blocked, which the coach said should never happen, and there were a few more kinks to work on.
“We plan on working on execution a little more. We had a few missed assignments where if we were playing a deeper team may have been the difference between a win and a loss,” said Buckley, who said communication and consistency will be key this weekend.
“We gave up a touchdown when three of our starters came off the field on defence and didn’t put in their subs. As a result we had to fill those gaps with out of position players.”
The team has also given him enough confidence to begin introducing more trick plays into the playbook, so the team’s offence will be one to watch.
“Our mental focus was consistent through the whole game. They knew their job and did it well. There were no complete killer mistakes,” Buckley said.
