NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Crescent Heights Vikings offensive lineman Lucas Semrau knocks down Chestermere Lakers' Brody Holladay with a block during an exhibition high school football game at the Methanex Bowl on Friday.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Reed McMow hit the jackpot on Friday night at the Methanex Bowl.
The Crescent Heights Vikings’ two-way player put his stamp on the team’s 25-0 exhibition victory over the Chestermere Lakers by posting the first touchdown of his football career on a 16-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter and adding a sack on the defensive side of the ball.
His mom even won the 50-50.
“That’s crazy,” said McMow, a Grade 12 slotback and defensive end. “I’ve been playing for eight years so that (touchdown) was awesome.”
Early penalties left Crescent Heights in a tough spot after three touchdowns were called back in the first half, but head coach Sean Davis says he was impressed with the way they responded to the frustration.
“The first half was not our game,” said Davis. “We didn’t do the little things right. We had some calls that didn’t go our way and that gets in guys’ heads a little bit. But how we played in the second half was much better.
“It was a really good game and I’m glad we made it through without any injuries or anything like that, but we’ve got to play better in the first half. We’ve got to come out with some fire.”
Tony Simmons punched in the only touchdown that counted in the opening half, while Devin Dreidger added a rouge on a wide field goal and the Lakers allowed a pair of safeties to give Crescent Heights a 12-0 edge at the break.
After holding Chestermere out of the end zone and forcing a missed field goal, the Vikings marched back into the red zone and quarterback Kobe Willis found McMow to make it 18-0.
“It was hard having those three called back at the start but I think we rallied,” said McMow. “We worked on our mental mistakes and the small things. That was the goal in the second half, get all the small things down right, and I think it paid off.”
Chestermere pushed for an offensive opening in the fourth, driving the ball back into the red zone but coming up 18 yards short of the scoreboard. The Vikings the drove the ball back down the field, setting up a 35-yard touchdown reception from Simmons.
Chestermere made a few final pushes for the end zone, but the Vikings held strong to preserve the shutout – improving to 3-2 on the season including exhibition. Grade 10 lineman Lucas Semrau led the defence with two sacks.
“It’s my first year in high school, getting two sacks in a game was insane. I’ve been dreaming about that,” said Semrau. “We dominated out there. We really kept us in there, especially in the first half when the offence was getting a lot of penalties… The whole line was on fire tonight.”
The Vikings return to the Methanex Bowl Friday to take on the McCoy-Eagle Butte Colts on Rangeland Football Conference alumni night.
Mohawks top Cobras
The Hat High Mohawks held on to take a narrow 28-25 victory from Claresholm’s Willow Creek Cobras in Friday’s late game at the Methanex Bowl.
The Mohawks got touchdowns from four different players to top the Cobras, ranked second among Tier 4 schools in Alberta. Tesema Veurink kicked off the scoring on a punt-return in the first quarter, followed by scores from Ashton Larson, Aaron Kruger and Kai Noon.
The win puts Hat High at 3-2 on the season including exhibition. The Mohawks entered the game ranked seventh among Tier 2 schools.
Hat High returns to the gridiron to host the Brooks Buffalos Friday at 6 p.m.
