What’s Canadian football without a little snow and blizzard like conditions?
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights got in game action for the first time this season with a pair of convincing scrimmage victories from their varsity and JV teams over the Spartans amid winter-like conditions on Oct. 16 in Strathmore.
“It was a relief to get to play finally, especially for the kids after two months of practice,” said Knights head coach Matt Hassett. “We actually had cancelled (the game) and the weather report was so back-and-forth and we just said let’s do it because who knows if we will get another one in.
“I’m glad we did it in hindsight. I was kind of cursing myself when it started to snow just as we left Okotoks, but all in all it was a really good experience. It was really good to have the kids out there, the looks on their faces, it was awesome to see that they finally got some sense of normal.”
With Grade 10 quarterback Brady Jenkins at the controls, the Knights’ varsity squad earned the 35-0 victory.
“He had his first start in high school and it went really well for him,” Hassett said. “You could see his experience in Bantam paid off, he wasn’t rattled by the moments.
“I was really impressed with him, he did a good job escaping pressure at times and throwing it up and letting his athletes go get it.”
Grade 12 Michael Peloso starred with a pair of touchdowns.
In JV action, the Knights won by a 22-0 count.
“It was 15-minute runtime quarters and then if you wanted to punt you just advanced the ball up to the 35 (yard) line instead of punting,” the coach added. “It was kind of tough going that one way, that northerly wind.”
The two teams will meet again on Oct. 23 at the Knights field in Okotoks for a 6 p.m. kick-off. The senior teams will play more of a structured game with the JV scrimmage to follow. The attendance will be capped at a maximum of 200 with physical distancing measures also in place.
“For this week, (Strathmore) is only practising a couple times a week, we’re going to put in a punting game with punt and punt return, but they didn’t think they had time to do kick-off return,” Hassett said. “It’s a little bit more game like, you’ve got the sticks, it’s basically football just no kick-off, kick-off return this week.”
