A Foothills Bantam Eagle found out over the weekend his new job isn’t going to be a snap.
Although Foothills’ Liam Hamlyn had a few struggles at centre on Aug. 25 at Holy Trinity Academy, getting some of the kinks out was what the Eagles Bantam Football Jamboree was all about.
“This was Liam’s first week at centre and he has put a lot of work into it,” said Eagles head coach Brent Millard. “The shotguns are tough, but Liam did a good job. By the time we start playing next week, Liam will be ready.”
Hamlyn, a student at John Paul II Collegiate in Okotoks, said he was pleased with his performance at the jamboree.
“I have to learn to get my snaps more consistent,” said Hamlyn, who was a guard last year. “I learned better techniques and how to block better and we also got to see some other teams.”
The jamboree had the Eagles and other teams play a series of scrimmages against one another on one half of the field. Each team would run two sets of 10 plays offensively as well as a set of five plays. The respective coaches got as close to the action as possible — standing just behind either the secondary or the offensive backfield while the plays were run.
The Eagles won one of their three scrimmages and Millard liked what he saw.
“I thought it was a good jamboree and the boys played well,” Millard said. “There is some improvement needed. The boys got a little bit down on themselves and I liked the way they were able to pick themselves up at the end.”
The Eagles finished with a 2-6 record last year, but Millard said it’s a different team this season.
“This year we have a veteran defence and a pretty young offence,” Millard said.
The Eagles were a running team last year led by running backs Brenden Hansen and Matthew Hunter, who have both graduated to the Foothills Composite Falcons high school football program.
There will be a committee of running backs to take the duo’s place.
“We have a really good corps in the backfield — four guys who will take their place,” Millard said. “I think we have more balance at running back than last year when we had to rely on those two guys.”
The running backs are returning Eagles Daylon Creason and Jeus Mapatac. Cole Huppie will also carry the pigskin for the Eagles.
Stepping up from the Peewee Eagles are running backs Tyler Going and Connor McGee. Also helping out at slotback is Mwambi Chali.
The Eagles’ quarterback is Blake Klotz.
“He was our quarterback last year and he worked hard (during the off-season),” Millard said. “His arm is a lot stronger.”
Defensively, the Eagles will be led by its linebackers, with Dawson Cunnings, who missed most of last year due to a knee injury, in the middle.
“We had big hopes for Dawson last year and then he got injured,” Millard said. “He played very well today. He stepped up. Our linebacker group should be good.”
The other linebackers are John Leggett and Florida transfer Ben Tighe.
Cunnings said the jamboree helped him after missing a year of action.
Millard said it’s been a tough training camp as he had to make cuts.
“This is the first year we had to do that and it was tough,” Millard said.
He said the Eagles still make considerably less cuts than the Calgary teams.
The Eagles start their Calgary Bantam Football Association (CBFA) season against the Colts Aug. 29 at Stampeder Field, which is located at 1515 Home Road N.W. in Calgary.
For information about the CBFA go to www.cbfa.ab.ca
For information concerning the Greater Okotoks Football Association go to www.gofa.ca
