NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Hat High Hawks' Aayden Callan hurdles a McCoy Colts defender in the first quarter of Thursday's Rangeland Football Conference playoff matchup at the Methanex Bowl.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Hat High Hawks continued their run of the Rangeland Football Conference with a 39-14 playoff victory over the McCoy Colts on Thursday night.
Hat High finished in first place of the RFC, which set up Thursday’s matchup against the Colts who finished in last in the four team conference.
The Hawks jumped out to an early lead with a Colts fumble scooped up near McCoy’s end zone and taken to the house by Hat High. Kai Noon almost doubled the Hawks lead to after catching a pass from Hat High quarter back Brody Fink for a touchdown. The Hawks would fail to capitalize on their two point attempt on the play and end the first frame with a 13-0 lead.
In the second quarter, the Hawks went on a 26-point run to carry a 39-0 lead into halftime. After a field goal early in the quarter, Logan Wells ran the ball into the end zone for the first of three Hawks touchdowns in the quarter. Aayden Callan returned a punt 88-yards and Tesema Veurink reeled in a Fink toss for the last touchdown of the quarter before adding a safety.
Hawks head coach Quinn Skelton says he was happy with how his team played in the win and how they took over the first half.
“Very pleased get everyone else in that second half,” said Skelton. “It was a good win tonight for us.”
The Colts would get on the scoreboard in the third quarter on a Hunter Chase receiving touchdown.
McCoy quarterback Thomas McCue called his own number and ran for a TD halfway through the fourth quarter to round out the score.
Colts head coach Darrell Grass said despite the loss he was very happy with how his team performed in the second half of the playoff matchup.
“I think the light switch finally flipped for them and they realized that’s how they have to play,” said Grass. “It’s good to see they’re happy, they’re positive, that’s all its about. The kids played well, I’m happy.”
Grass says his team is already looking forward to next week’s game, and he said if the Colts play next week like they did in the second half of Thursday’s game, they should be good.
“We didn’t win on the scoreboard but we won in some things we are working on all year,” Grass said. “Our defence started playing well, we started getting some good hitting and played some physical football and that’s nice to see. You don’t always look at the scoreboard for the wins and we had a couple small wins tonight and that’s exciting.”
Hat High qualified for provincials as a Tier 2 team with the win and will face the winner of Crescent Heights and Brooks High. The Colts will get the loser.
Vikings face Brooks
The Crescent Heights Vikings hosted the Brooks Buffalos immediately after the Hawks-Colts game. At the half, the score of the game was tied at 14-14.
The winner of the matchup will qualify for provincials as a Tier 3 team.
For the final score and a detailed story on the game, visit medicinehatnews.com/sports
