It's back to the Division II provincial finals for the first time in a half-decade for the Foothills Peewee Eagles.
Led by an explosive offence and timely defensive stands the Eagles powered past the Calgary Stampeders 21-14 on Nov. 2 at Shouldice Park to claim the Calgary Peewee Football Association Division II city championship and punch its ticket to the provincial final in one fell swoop.
"I did look at the trophy when we got it and it's Okotoks, it's Foothills, when you look at the trophy there's a lot of Eagles on it," said Eagles head coach Lance Kelly. "On our website we talk about dynasty and we use a lot of big words we never talk to the kids about, but it's a little bit of a return to our past.
"There was three or four years in a row there where we were in a provincials and we won a provincials and there's a steep history in my view and just to continue that tradition, I think it means a lot to the program."
The Eagles will look to build on its winning legacy, owning Division II provincial titles in 2014, 2011 and 2006, when they tackle the Edmonton region champion Sherwood Park Rams on Nov. 9. Opening kick-off is 11 a.m. at Shouldice Park.
It took nerves of steel for Foothills to fly to the provincial final.
Owning a 21-14 lead in the late stages, the Eagles defence put up a goalline stand to in the final minutes to see out the result.
"They always say defence wins championships and man did they hold," Kelly said. "There was 10 seconds left in the game, they were on the 3-yard line and we had a couple guys come up with some really big stops."
The score was tied 8-8 at the half after Foothills found pay-dirt on the first play from scrimmage when quarterback Emerson Liepert hit Ethan Moorman for a 65-yard touchdown reception. Calgary responded with a touchdown and convert later in the first quarter and Foothills brought it back even at 8-8 when Avery Laliberte forced a safety with a tackle in the end-zone in the second quarter.
The Stamps took back the lead on a third quarter touchdown before the Eagles stepped up to the challenge in the fourth quarter.
Liepert scored on a 7-yard run and added the convert to make it 15-14 and the athletic signal caller added some late insurance with a 68-yard touchdown scamper.
"We've had many drives this year that take seven, eight minutes off the clock and that's what we were trying to do," Kelly said. "We had a 3rd-and-1 and it opened up and my quarterback ran 60 yards for a touchdown."
The Eagles were forced to rally late when fullback Austin Kroeker, whom the coach described as the heart-and-soul of the offence, was sidelined with an injury midway through the fourth quarter.
"The kids were definitely shaken by that a little bit," Kelly said. "It was tough, but a couple of the kids that have been secondary players all year, stepped up at the very end. It was a total team effort, every facet of the team game had to work."
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