Together as Eagles one last time with a championship to boot.
The Foothills Eagles won their second straight Calgary Bantam Football Association city championship, this one of the Division III variety, following a 10-3 triumph over the Chestermere Chiefs on Nov. 2 at Hellard Field.
"We have 22 kids moving on to high school this year," said Bantam Eagles head coach Tim Henderson. "It will be tough because I've been with these guys for six years, I've seen them since they were eight or nine years old and I've coached them this long.
"It's kind of bittersweet, you see that we've won two championships in a row, but they're all moving on and I'm staying behind. But it's awesome to end the season, all those guys that have been around for so long, on a championship."
Following a scoreless first-half characterized by strong defensive efforts by both squads the game was up for grabs in the third and fourth quarters.
Foothills' stout defence made key plays at big times, stopping the Chiefs from getting any points in the first half and giving the Eagles offence the opportunity to step up in the second half.
"On defence we just all played hard, we didn't give up, we did our scheme, we got a lot of turnovers and kept their offence to nothing and it worked," said Eagles middle linebacker Lukas Smith.
Foothills got to work on offence to start the second-half and were able to mix the passing and running game effectively with quarterback Brody Jenkins leading the charges.
"I think they started realizing how important the game is, the support they had on the sidelines and just the no-quit attitude," Henderson said. "And the score was too close, so just don't give up the ball and just manage the clock, which we did really well."
Early in the third quarter, a big 25-yard sweep play by runningback Carter Smith got the Eagles in the red-zone. Fellow-tailback Marshall Hartwell then finished off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run.
"Our offensive line, they've been through a lot this season," said Eagles wide receiver Thomas Rodehutskors. "They started out strong, they didn't give up a sack for I think five weeks then they had a couple tough weeks against some really tough d-lines. This week they really picked it up.
"We just had some plays that hadn't worked so well that we busted out and they worked a lot better than we thought."
Foothills added two points later in the quarter when the Chiefs elected to concede a safety rather than punt out of the end-zone.
The Chiefs made it interesting in the fourth quarter with an impressive 40-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 10-3.
Chestermere had two more drives to put points on the board in the final two minutes, only to be held back by Foothills.
The Eagles brought the heat with a pair of sacks and then closed out the contest with cornerback Rylan Neish corralling an interception.
"Just don't let them score, we just made sure we didn't let them in the end-zone," said Lukas Smith, a three-year member of the Bantam Eagles. "Our outside linebackers got those two sacks and Rylan got the pick.
"It was great because defence really helped in the victory and to finish it off like that, it felt fitting."
Carter Smith, who broke off a number of long runs in both the championship and paced the club with three touchdowns in the semifinal was named the Division III playoff MVP.
"We didn't put up a bunch of points, but I think that was one of our best offensive and defensive efforts of the year," said Carter Smith. "We really came together as a team this game, we really meshed together. It was a very good game.
"The defence set us up in really good situations, really good field position, they were just feeding us the ball."
After a tough regular season with a 2-6 record, the Eagles showcased once again it's not how you start, it's how you finish.
The team got some words of wisdom prior to kick-off on Nov. 2 from former Calgary Stampeder Will Johnson, a Grey Cup champion in 1992 and five-time CFL All-Star, that went with the theme of the game.
"It was about us not having a great record this year, but you persevere and I think that message spoke to the kids," Henderson said.
For more information on the Eagles go to foothillseaglesfootball.ca
