NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Hat High Mohawks head coach Quinn Skelton holds one of his team’s throwback jerseys during a practice at the Methanex Bowl on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. The Mohawks will wear the jerseys when they take on the Brooks Buffalos Friday at 7:30 p.m. for Rangeland Football Conference alumni night, celebrating the league’s 40th season. The evening will open wirth the McCoy-Eagle Butte Colts taking on the Crescent Heights Vikings at 5 p.m.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Rangeland Football Conference will celebrate 40 years of blood, sweat and tears on Friday night at the Methanex Bowl.
Quinn Skelton was among the first to lace up his cleats and pull a Hat High Mohawks jersey over his shoulders back when the league first started up in 1980. Skelton – who wore No. 30 at the time – went on to become coach of his high school squad, where he’s been working with Hat High’s student athletes for 30 years and counting.
“Being part of the first year, looking back now I don’t think we realized it was a big deal at that point in time. We were just excited to play ball,” said Skelton, who will be wearing a replica of that same No. 30 jersey for alumni night Friday, which pits the McCoy/Eagle Butte Colts against the Crescent Heights Vikings at 5 p.m. and the Mohawks against the Brooks Buffalos at 7:30 p.m. “Now we look at guys who are involved with us here locally. I’ve got three or four guys who help coach with us that all played in the Rangeland, so there’s a lot of pride, I think, to be part of it, even going back to that first year in 1980.”
That first Mohawks roster also included current Mohawks linebacker coach Mike Baker and receiver coach Brian Semenok. Baker even managed to hold onto his old high school jersey, which Skelton says allowed them to create replicas for the entire team to wear during Friday’s game against Brooks. In fact, all four teams will sport throwback jerseys for alumni night.
“We’re looking forward to putting on a good show and having a great attendance, getting some alumni… and just enjoying a night of football here in the Hat,” said Skelton. “We’ll get McCoy and Crescent Heights and Hat High and Brooks’ alumni all down and just enjoy the evening.”
Skelton isn’t the only local coach with a storied history in the RFC, as both Colts head coach Darrell Grass and Crescent Heights’ Sean Davis have roots in the league going back more than a decade. Davis competed with the Vikings from 2006 to 2008 before taking over as head coach of the team last year, while Grass coached the Colts to their last championship as an assistant under Jonn Baird in 2007.
“It was a tough (season). The other teams are always tough in our league… We lost one game in the season but then we won Rangeland,” said Grass, who grew up playing in Edmonton, where he won a national junior football championship and went on to play for the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
Grass has had his hand in the local football scene for years. After coaching with the Colts in 2007, he went on to coach his son through minor ball before spending a handful of years as a referee. With the Colts facing a rebuilding phase this season, Grass opted take over as head coach and help the school regain its footing in the RFC.
“I figured, you know what, I’d like to build a program here again so I got some good coaches together and put in my name and it was lucky enough to get drawn,” said Grass. “The kids are having some success now and we just have to keep building. They just need that little bit more. It’s great that they’re celebrating their success, but there’s still a lot of hard work to do to get to that level and win Rangeland.”
Davis spent three seasons on the field with the Vikings as a linebacker and a fullback. In his Grade 12 season in 2008, Davis collected 546 yards and four touchdowns on the ground while adding seven solo sacks on defence to earn the RFC’ s most valuable player award. But looking back, the stats aren’t what mattered.
“If people base their career off wins and losses, they’ll have a very poor reflection of their own football career,” said Davis. “You still remember the good times. You don’t remember all the crap or the issues you had, you remember the good times. Those friendships will last forever. That’s the best part about football, is the relationships that you build… I’ve loved all the guys that I played with here and I wish I could see them more. Those are guys who had a huge impact on me as a person and as a player. Even to this day I still think about them and I hope I had a very small impact on them as well.”
Davis added he hopes to see many of those faces in the stands when his Vikings take the field Friday, as well as countless other alumni spanning the school’s 57 years on the gridiron.
“I really hope to see them out here. I expect them to be here and I know a whole bunch of them will be,” he said. “If they’re reading this in the paper, get ahold of me, contact me. Whether you played in 1962 – which was our first year (at Crescent Heights) – or you played last season, get ahold of me. Please come out and support us, whether it be as a voice in the stands or coming out and working with our guys. We really want to build our relationship with our alumni.”
Skelton says he’s spoken to at least 40 alumni who plan on making the trip out to the Methanex Bowl, and he expects a good amount of support for all four teams in action.
“They’ve bought the retro jerseys and they’re all excited about those. I’ve had other phone calls from people just saying, ‘hey what’s going on,'” said Skelton. “I’m just hoping the word gets out. People around town who have played in the past, feel free to come out.”
