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Seniors Titans battle for provincial title Friday

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The Senior Drumheller Titans have one last stop on the road to the provincial championships, and that is in Red Deer against the St. Paul Lions.
The Titans are defending their title this Friday at the Tier Alberta Bowl. This comes after dispatching the W.R. Myers Rebels of Taber at home last Saturday.
The number four-ranked Rebels made quick work of Canmore to play in the South Final against the Titans but ran into a strong Drumheller squad.
The Titans went up early, scoring two quick touchdowns, and never looked back. Each team added another touchdown by halftime, making the score 21-7. The Titans held strong on defence despite the best efforts of the Rebels.
“We know playing these teams at this time of year, they are going to throw everything they got at you,” said Coach Ken Fournier. “Taber came out and were able to move the ball interior-wise, and our defence did a good job of eventually shutting that down. Our running game came off strong.”
After being up by halftime, it was the Titans’ goal to grind out the clock, and the defence did that for them, despite being outsized.
“Our defensive mentality is bend but don’t break, don’t give up the big play, and that is what they did,” he said.
He does add they need to keep the game clean.
“That’s two weeks in a row where we gave up first downs deep in our own zone off of penalties, so we got to get rid of those,” said Fournier.
The match is set for Friday. The number two-ranked St. Paul Lions had a bye through the first round and then came up on top winning 29-20 against the Sexsmith Sabres to earn their way into the final.
Game time this Friday is 7 p.m. If the Titans win they will be tied with Ardrossan for winning five titles at the Tier IV level.


Senior Titans advance to South Final, vs Taber

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Football fans were treated to excitement as the Senior Titans battled for the chance to represent at the South Finals.
The Titans hosted the Willow Creek Cobras at Don Robertson Field. Within minutes, it looked like the Titans were in control of the game with two quick touchdowns on their initial possessions.
The Cobras didn’t back down and clawed their way back into striking distance in the third quarter, with the Titans leading 20-15.
Early in the fourth, the Cobras took a 22-20 lead. Fans felt the tension as both teams failed to get any grip until the last three minutes when quarterback Gavan Cassidy connected with a long pass to Kegan Regis, who ran it in for a touchdown to make the score 27-22. A great punt and even better bounce forced the Cobras to take a knee and start deep in their end. Ultimately, the Titans’ defence held strong as they went on to win.
“We knew Claresholm was going to come out and battle to the very last whistle,” said Head Coach Ken Fournier. There was a point in that game where their bench got really loud, and they were just going. I think they had an eight-minute drive, and that is tough when they keep moving and getting first downs. We were just trying to have a bend and not break mentality and cycle guys in when we could.”
“They gave us one heck of a football game.”
With this win, the Titans host the W.R. Myers Rebels of Taber in the South Final. The number 4 ranked Rebels topped the Canmore Wolverines 47-0 in their semifinal.
Coach Fournier hopes the grind-out win will help the Titans’ resolve as they march through the postseason.
“At this time of the year when you are in games like that, it just elevates what this game is about, especially today when the field was named the Don Robertson Field, it’s just awesome. I knew Don since day one as a bantam player in 1998 all the way up until last year.”
The South Final gores at 1 p.m. Saturday, November 18, at Don Robertson Field.

Morrin Mustangs qualify for zones

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The Morrin Mustangs won silver at Regionals and are bound for Zones after a strong showing at a weekend tournament.
The regional tournament played out on November 10 and 11 at St. Anthony’s School. Teams included Delia School, South Central School in Oyen, Bassano, Rosemary, Duchess and Morrin School, which has picked up a couple of players from St. Anthony’s.
The Mustangs won their pool undefeated and crossed over to play Rosemary. With that win, they went to the final versus a tough Bassano team and fell in two games.
Coach Amanda Batty said the team has been having a great season. In fact, the program over the last three years has met with some great successes.
“We have gone to provincials the last two years, and now we are having another run of success. Not that provincials would be our expectation. Our zone is really strong this year,” she said.
With this second-place finish, the Mustangs qualify for zones this coming weekend in Rosemary. There will be eight teams at zones. The top two teams will qualify for provincials in Falher.
“We try not to focus that, one game at a time, said Batty,
The team has been racking up wins all year. Their defeat to Bassano at Regionals was a good experience for the team.
“I tell the girls all the time that usually you learn more about yourself when you lose than when you win. We have been talking a lot about how you react when things aren’t going your way. That can either bring you together as a team or split you apart.”
She says the team has a positive approach.
“The last few years, we have had really positive, really coachable groups of girls who haven’t been bringing a lot of drama, just been wanting to focus on their skills and build each other up and really be there when someone is not having best game,” said Batty. “We have some new members from St. Anthony’s this year, and they just gelled right in.”


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