Cobras going to provincial playoffs after win over Crescent Heights

By Tim Bryson Co-coach, WCCHS Cobras football team
The Willow Creek Composite High School Cobras punched their ticket to 3A provincial football playoffs with a hard fought 36-7 win over Crescent Heights Vikings last Friday, Nov. 7, at the Snake Pit.
Coming off a four-week layoff resulting from the ATA strike/lockout, the team had only been able to put in six formal practice sessions prior to the game. The zone, along with the Football Alberta rankings committee, decided to have two play-in games last Friday, with the other one having W.R. Myers of Taber travel to Cardston. The winners would move on, while the losers would be done.
The Cobras got off to a great start, as Logan Hurlburt rumbled 61 yards on the first play to set up his own five-yard touchdown plunge and a quick 7-0 lead. Two drives later, the Cobras extended their lead to 14-0 on another Hurlburt five-yard run. That drive covered 60 yards in six plays, with a nice mix of running and receiving by Easton Wright, along with a couple of designed runs by quarterback Briggs Baker.
The Vikings were able to get back in the game on a 26-yard touchdown strike. The drive was set up by an excellent kick-off return and covered 55 yards on six plays. The Cobras then responded with a scoring drive of their own, as the offence showed an effective mix of run and pass to keep the Vikings off balance. Hurlburt scored on a one-yard plunge, but the offence showed great balance moving down the field to make the halftime score 22-7 for Willow Creek.
The second half turned into a bit of a rock fight, as the defences tightened resulting in very little sustained offence. The Cobras’ best chance for additional points came when Micah Rice intercepted a pass, but had it stripped away as he was being tackled at the Viking 30-yard line. The Vikings tried some trickery on a field goal attempt, as an on-side player made a run at the loose ball in the endzone, but a heads up play by Briggs Baker and a key block by Jacob Penner helped avoid disaster.
The Cobras were able to finally break through on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Baker to Wright, followed by a 57-yard touchdown sprint by Hurlburt. That play saw some great blocking at the line, as Hurlburt was through the line untouched.
The offence was paced by a brutally efficient ground game that churned out 313 yards on 26 carries. Hurlburt led the way with 181 yards on 11 carries, but Briggs Baker chipped in with 78 yards on seven carries, while Easton Wright contributed 48 greasy yards on seven carries. Baker completed 6 of 12 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. Wright had three receptions for 100 yards, while Hurlburt had the other three receptions for 32 yards. The total of 445 yards was easily the best of the season and likely several seasons (this coach’s mind can’t recall any similar production in several years).
The defence was paced by many of the usual suspects. Logan Hurlburt was in on 11 tackles, with three passes defended, a quarterback pressure and a fumble recovery. Micah Rice had another excellent night at corner, making seven tackles, defending three passes and picking up his third interception of the year. Kael Smith, Mika Hadu-Tutu, and Seth Ohlheiser were in on five tackles each. Mika did some great work at the edge of the Viking offence, as their bread and butter were designed to get outside with speed.
Special props go to Jacob Penner, who was thrust into playing free safety with the injury to Keegan Scott. Penner has played corner and halfback this year, and his tour around the secondary continued. With just three practices at that position, his positioning and reactions were excellent. He was in on seven tackles, with several coming on kick coverage, had two passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
While the defence yielded 181 yards on 28 carries, and another 110 through the air, they were largely able to prevent the Vikings from stringing together consistent drives.
With the win, the Cobras move on as the second seed in the south zone (Cardston is #1) and will travel to Red Deer this Saturday for a 12 noon rematch with the Olds Spartans, who the Cobras defeated in a 16-8 slugfest on a hot afternoon back in September. Olds defeated Drumheller 38-14 on Saturday afternoon to punch their ticket to provincials.