The Foothills Falcons appear poised to win their third straight senior boys high school boy’s league championship, but their coach said any title talk before Thanksgiving, is just talkin’ turkey.
The Falcons have started the Foothills Athletic Council (FAC) season with a 2-0 record with victories over the Holy Cross Collegiate Hawks from Strathmore and nearby Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS) Spartans. As well, they finished fourth at the University of Calgary tournament earlier this month which featured some of the top teams in the province.
“I like to think we are the team to beat,” said Falcons head coach Corey Cowper. “But I think STS is going to be very competitive.”
The Comp beat STS 25-17, 25-11, 25-20 on Sept. 26.
The Falcons have several new faces on their team, but Cowper said they have plenty of talent.
“It’s almost a rebuilding year — almost,” Cowper said. “But we will be more experienced than last year. What happened was we have eight of our kids playing club ball and every one of them went to a camp.”
As a result, the Falcons are on the right track.
“Our strength is our right side with Ethan Carter,” Cowper said. “We have a big, big swing from the right side.
“We are also strong in the middle with Allen Crier and Austin Latta (from High River).”
Cowper also has a diamond-in-the-rough in Matt Armstrong, who has only played for 18 months, but can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
The power from the outside will come from Wes Robinson from High River and Shaedan Hawse as well as Seichi Kyle and Corin Chan.
The Falcons will use a 5-1 offence with Grade 11 Brett Carter setting. They may also use a modified 6-2 offence (two setters with all six players hitting).
The Falcons will miss Noah Wilkie who injured his toe when a tarp used to cover the gym floor fell on his foot.
The Falcons were able to take advantage of the Highwood Mustangs not being able to field a team this year adding Austin Latta and outside Wes Robinson from the High River high school.
Cowper stressed no one was cut to take the High River students.
Spartan power
STS finished third in the FAC last year and are aiming higher in 2012.
“I think based on what I have seen in previous year and where we were last year, I think we, along with Foothills are the top two teams,” said Spartans coach Dale Roth. “But really right now it is anybody’s guess.”
The Spartans are led by power Tynan Stack, who went to the United States and played in a national tournament in the offseason.
“We also have a very good setter in Taylor Chase and we have a good middle in Justin Nadeau,” Roth said. “Those are my three returning players and they will be our leaders.”
Chase is able to handle the pressure on any stage. He is also the lead in STS’s upcoming production of Grease.
Grade 12 power Ben Roskey, who played junior varsity last year, has been hitting the ball hard since the first day of practice, Roth said. Roth is also benefitting from a strong JV program.
“Our program from Grade 7 up has just been developing really well over the years,” Roth said.
“Our JV program is really strong and I have a good group of Grade 11 and 12s. We were at a tournament at the University of Alberta and I was happy how we did against some very big schools. I was most impressed with how we came together as a team.”
Drillers are back
It appears the Oilfields Drillers might have had plenty on the farm when they took a year absence from Senior boys volleyball to re-seed the program.
The Drillers were narrowly beaten 3-2 by the Holy Trinity Academy Knights on Sept. 19 in their first FAC game since 2010.
“We are mostly Grade 11, but they have been playing together since Grade 7,” Drillers coach Chase Sillito said.
“They mesh very well and there is almost a sense of family with the boys.”
Their lone Grade 12 player, middle Brandon Powell, does more than provide leadership.
“He is the one who gets everyone fired up,” Sillito said. “His hitting doesn’t hurt either.”
The Drillers will use a 6-2 offence with Brady Stuart and Cole Perrault doing the setting.
“The 6-2 offence allows us to have two good setters who can back each other up,” Sillito said. “Cole can definitely hit the ball well and Brady has grown something like five inches so he has a lot of promise.
From the outside the Drillers will attack with Lincoln Boehmer and Orrie Malmberg.
Both of those guys are phenomenal athletes, they just need to get their stride under them,” Sillito said.
Lee Ouellette is there to assist Powell in the middle. Kaden Feil, who hasn’t played for a few years, rounds out the Drillers’ line-up.
“Our goal this year is to keep positive and stay positive and maybe surprise teams,” Silitto said.
Knight time
The Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) Knights have a new coach for 2012, and so far, Brian Selders likes what he sees.
“Our strength is a good group that is gelling really well and we have a lot of raw athletic ability,” Selders said.
He said while the Knights have some veteran players, there are some relatively new players to keep the team competitive.
The Knights are young, as they have no Grade 12 players.
“The future looks wonderful,” Selders said with a chuckle.
They are set to play with setters Jaxson Hooge and Zac Yavis. They will share time on the court as the Knights are running a 5-1 offence.
HTA’s big hitters are powers Micah Brown and middle Nick Peloso. Jesse vanBlokland will help clog up the middle. Jake Elias is pummeling the ball for HTA.
Selders said he was pleased with the way the Knights played against Oilfields.
The other teams in the FAC are the Strathmore Spartans, Holy Cross Collegiate Hawks and the Notre Dame Collegiate Timberwolves from High River. The Senior boys play on Wednesday nights at their respective schools.
