The Oilfields Drillers are showing their counterparts in Okotoks they are taking quite a liking to 15-girls’ rugby.
The Drillers shutout the host Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) Knights 26-0 in Big Sky Rugby Union high school girls play May 17 in Okotoks.
“Personally, I was almost having panic attacks before the game because we were playing HTA,” said Driller Sarah Campbell. “We really wanted to beat them because we are a small school and people don’t expect very much from us.”
The Drillers are playing their first girls’ rugby season with a full 15 players on the field. The only time the Black Diamond school had beaten an Okotoks school was during seven-player games in previous years.
Oilfields took a 5-0 lead in the first half when Ashley Mabbott put the ball in the try zone.
“It was like a big maul in front of the try zone,” said Driller Becca Tucker. “That was my favourite try of the game — it was all of us pushing together as a team to get the ball across.”
The Knights took the 5-0 lead into halftime and things just got better for Oilfields in the second stanza.
The tenacious Drillers were harder than push back in the second half than a boulder.
“We worked on all week on what is called a pick-and-drive — we call it a boulder,” said Drillers coach Aaron Langstraat said.
“That’s basically from the ruck, one of our players picking up the ball and drives right up the side or passes the ball… our rucking was very good today.”
Drillers Stephanie Knight picked up the ball from the ruck and ran eight yards for the try to give Oilfields a 10-0 lead.
The Drillers’ back then put Oilfields up 17-0 when she was the last Driller to receive the ball in a series of laterals as they worked it down the field and Knight then went in to score. Tucker scored the final try on the ensuing kick-off as she rammed her way up the middle to make the final score 26-0.
Langstraat said it was the best game the Drillers have played all year and the victory puts them in a good shape with a 3-2 record as they begin playoffs next week.
Knights coach Jordan Smith said HTA came up against a good and well-coached team.
“Our girls just went away from our game plan today and next week, we will just get back to basics,” Smith said. “We have to start looking at team tackling better. The Drillers had too many passes that were completed before they were tackled.”
He said the Knights have to be ready to prevent, block or intercept the pass.
Smith said Katelyn Thompson had a strong game in the second row, after starting the year as a back.
“You really need those players who can play a lot of positions,” Smith said. “I’m really proud of how Katelyn has advanced since last year.”
Thompson wasn’t happy with the loss, but she said it might be good for the Knights sometime down the road.
“We can learn from this game,” she said. “There are things we have to work on.”
The Knights also have a 3-2 record in the Big Sky. The schedule for the opening round of the playoffs next week has not yet been determined.
The Foothills Composite Falcons were beaten by the first-place Springbank Phoenix in Cochrane on Thursday night.
Falcons coach Sophie Martin said her team played well against a strong Phoenix team.
“Springbank has a really strong team so I was too worried about the outcome,” Martin said. “What I liked was we played a very strong game and we absolutely improved since the start of the year.”
The loss dropped the Falcons’ record to 3-2.
The Falcons will play the Bow Valley Bobcats on May 30 at Foothills Composite to see who will advance to the Tier I (more than 1,000 students) from the Big Sky to the provincials. Bow Valley, which is in Cochrane, has less than 1,000 students but has opted to play in Tier I
