The Foothills Eagles put forth a valiant comeback effort before the clock struck midnight in the Calgary Peewee Football Association Tier I city finals.
The Calgary Cowboys held on for the 30-22 victory in a thrilling championship game, Nov. 3 at Shouldice Park in Calgary.
Eagles head coach John Price said the team wanted to use their inside running game against the Cowboys, one of the few weaknesses on a very big and physical Calgary team.
“We started to go outside and it wasn’t so successful so it sort of stalemated us a bit,” Price said. “When we get behind it’s really hard to keep moving the ball because the time keeps creeping down.
“We needed big plays too and our big plays are outside.”
The Eagles and Cowboys carried a 6-6 tie into halftime on a touchdown run from Foothills’ Payton Burbank, but both teams would miss their point after attempts.
The second half was a different story as the teams combined for 40 points.
“Defensively we played awesome,” Price said.
“There were four mistakes that a young defence will make and it puts a lot of points on the board and that was the big difference.”
Price credited the Cowboys with changing it up on offence in the second half and forcing his young Eagles’ defence to adjust to a middle of the game curveball.
“It caught us twice,” Price said.
“They would pass it in the backfield to one of their fast players and ran outside where traditionally they usually run up the middle and then bounce out.”
The Cowboys took a 14-6 lead early in the third quarter on a second down hitch pass that turned into a 100-yard score down the right sideline.
Calgary took a commanding 22-6 lead in the early stages of the final quarter on an eight-yard inside run, but the Eagles would not go down without a fight.
Quarterback Tyson Pitcher led Foothills down the field and the signal caller found runningback Payton Price with a looping pass over a pair of outstretched Cowboys for a 15-yard score.
Calgary wrestled momentum right back and again made hay with the outside running game, turning a 20-yard scamper to the right edge into a score.
The Cowboys held a 30-14 lead with just 4:55 left in the game, but Foothills was again undaunted by the odds stacked against it.
Runningbacks Burbank and Price turned in long runs to put the Eagles in the red zone. Slotback Adam Dielessen, held in check by a stout Cowboy defence for most of the game, found pay dirt with 65 seconds left on a fly pattern to the left.
Foothills’ subsequent onside kick was unsuccessful and the Cowboys would take a knee on the final two plays to run out the clock and send their players and supporters into a frenzy.
Still, the Eagles took solace in pushing a team who had not lost a game in three seasons to the final whistle.
“It was a great game and well fought to the last whistle,” said Eagles defensive end and right guard Jacob Kamajian. “We were just doing our responsibilities (on defence) and didn’t really let up until the last couple of plays and that’s how we stuck in there.”
The 2012 Foothills Peewee team was the first to qualify for a Tier I championship game, and despite the loss, the team walked off the field by making Greater Okotoks Football Association history.
“That’s a pretty good achievement,” Payton Price said. “I’ve known some guys that have played on Eagles teams before and they are very good.
