Belief is a powerful force in sports.
So when the Foothills Eagles lined up against a powerful Calgary Cowboys (Navy) with a Calgary Bantam Football Association (CBFA) high 300 points scored and league-low 62 against, they didn’t let statistics get in the way of a statement win.
The Eagles (6-2) jumped out to a 30-9 lead at halftime and held off the Cowboys (6-2) for a 38-18 victory in their regular season finale, Oct. 13 at Shouldice Park in Calgary.
“I don’t think this group could have believed they would beat this team at the start of the year,” said Eagles head coach Brent Millard. “This puts us a solid Tier I team now for the first time in years.
“That was a big part of today we believe we’re a Tier I team now.”
Both teams were already assured of their placements within their divisions and a rematch in the first round of the playoffs next week.
The Eagles finished third in a competitive South Division and will meet the Cowboys again on Saturday, 1 p.m., at the same venue.
“It’s a little bit of a game of chess, we don’t really know how much they played their seconds,” Millard said. “It’s hard to know, but we will take the win any time.”
The Eagles mixed up their offensive attack to ensure the result against Calgary, blending their traditional fly formation with a dash of west-coast offence.
“We’ve had some good passing games this year and that’s been one of our keys,” said Millard who also credited tailback Cian Booth for a strong season. “We’ve been able to spread it around and (quarterback Blake Klotz) has a lot of weapons.”
Foothills’ balanced offensive attack was reflected on the game-sheet. Slotbacks Mwambi Chali and Daylon Creason found themselves on the receiving end of touchdown throws from Klotz along with a touchdown run from Jeus Mapatac.
The Eagles’ undersized offensive line, featuring Liam Hamlyn, Macin Smith, Ajay Chatha, McKay Mullin, Mackey Pickering and centre Gavin Millard continued to impress with their pass blocking.
“We worked together as one unit and the offensive line really stepped up their game in blocking,” Gavin Millard said. “We really did well in reading the blitzes and dealing with those because we haven’t seen them much this season.”
Eagles defensive halfback Brendan Lowry said containing the Cowboys quarterback was crucial to holding the Calgary team to just 18 points.
“We really needed to shut him down when he’s rolling out of the pocket,” Lowry said. “And coverage is going to be a big deal because they like to pass a lot.”
Lowry said the Eagles were guilty of giving away some yards in the first half, but made up for it where it counted.
“There was a lot of big plays that we let in,” Lowry said. “But once we got to the red-zone here we got stronger and shut them down.”
The 6-2 regular season finish is a four game improvement on last season in which the Eagles finished near the bottom of the 2011 standings with a 2-6 record.
The Eagles and Cowboys hit the gridiron on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. at Shouldice Park in Calgary.
For more information go to www.cbfa.com.
