The Holy Trinity Academy Knights will have a week off to get prepare for their rematch against the Rundle College Cobras.
The Knights ended their regular season with a convincing 30-3 win over the Highwood Mustangs Oct. 4 at Knights Field in Okotoks.
“We were able to get some young guys some work,” Knights head coach Matt Hassett said of the win over Highwood. “I wanted to get some of our seniors some work because we have two weeks off before we play Rundle.”
The Knights are now 3-3 in the regular season and finished third in the Big Rock Conference with a 1-2 record. They finished behind first-place Foothills Falcons (3-0) and second-place Rundle College (2-1) in the conference.
The Mustangs from High River are in the midst of a painful rebuilding season. Although the Mustangs were outmatched by the Knights, it wasn’t as if they were blown out of the water.
Holy Trinity had a slim 13-0 lead at halftime.
“I think a lot of our guys were taking them too lightly and in the second half we had to put some of our seniors in there to get things going,” Hassett said. “The Mustangs showed some skills out there.”
Hassett said the Knights were able to not only get some of their young players in the game, they were also able to fine tune their offence which had sputtered in an un-Holy Trinity Academy like three game losing streak prior to taking on the Mustangs.
“I thought our counters looked the best all year,” Hassett said. “We were trying to fine tune some things (against Highwood).”
Hassett was able to give quarterbacks Hayden Oberg and Grade 10 protégé Spencer Kiranas plenty of action in the game.
The Knights are now in a win-or-you’re-done situation as they enter the playoffs. They will play the Cobras on Oct. 19 in Calgary.
With the Cobras’ surprising the Knights 9-7 on Sept. 15, Hassett said he is hoping a rest will result in a change in the outcome.
“Last year we ended up getting a bye and it turned out to be a good thing,” Hassett said. “I think if you use it correctly it can really help you. It gives us a chance to work on some things. A bye week gives us a chance to do some film work, the guys to get in the weight room and get caught up in their studies. It also gives them a chance to heal up a bit.”
Hassett saw flashes of Rundle’s loss to the Falcons on Oct 4.
“They aren’t flashy, they just try to out execute you,” Hassett said.
Rundle College will play the John Diefenbaker Chiefs this weekend, before taking on the Knights in the Big Rock semifinal.
Cobra coach Brent Hargreaves said the Cobras just sneaked by the Knights in the previous game so they won’t take anything for granted.
“HTA is a dangerous team that definitely has some weapons,” Hargreaves said after their 46-27 loss to the Falcons on Oct. 4. “We were fortunate to have some success against them.”
The Knights’ most dangerous weapon is a 200-pound Stone in running back Ryder Stone. You can’t stop a rolling stone with just one snake.
“Gang tackling,” Hargreaves said. “We’re going to have to get a lot of bodies around him to slow him down.”
The Knights have a 3-3 record and are ranked sixth among Tier II schools in Alberta. The Cobras are 4-1 and are ranked seventh among Tier III schools.
