Hawks and Vikings prepare for provincials

By JAMES TUBB on November 12, 2021.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The Hawks and Vikings are gearing up for provincial matchups this weekend in the Hat. 

The Vikings draw the first of two games at the Methanex Bowl on Saturday, as they host the Stettler Wildcats at noon. Hat High will host Holy Trinity Academy at 2:30 p.m..

Vikings head coach Sean Davis says making provincials was the goal for the season but he feels the team has more work to do.

“The record is 0-0, and every game is sudden death,” Davis said. “So if we don’t have our stuff together it’s going to be a long game on Saturday. But we’re looking solid and we feel good about it.”

The Vikings are coming off a bye week after losing in the RFC finals to Hat High on Oct. 29. Davis says the kids who were a bit chipped up from the season were able to get refreshed ahead of Saturday’s game, adding the Vikings are playing to win it all and he’s proud of his team making it where they wanted to.

“It’s exciting to see the kids set a goal and achieve it. I think that the work is yet to come, as far as I am concerned,” Davis said. “The regular season was great, we were 7-2. But the record is 0-0 and we have all the work to do and we have everything to prove. We are the provincial bronze medalists from two years ago and as far as I am concerned gold is the only option and I know these kids feel the same way.”

Crescent Heights’ senior Colby Schneider says the Vikings need to approach the game with confidence.

“You have to go into that game with confidence,” Schneider said. “You don’t, and go into that game, and it’s not going to be a good outcome. We have a team here that I believe can make a deep run, so we just have to be ready to play. Like coach Davis says, we have to be expecting their best game and be ready for it.”

Davis says the Vikings will enjoy the home field advantage Saturday against Stettler but says they have to capitalize on the advantage and keep themselves from looking ahead.

“It’s tough but you have to keep their expectations just on the game,” Davis said. “It’s just a game of football and we’ve got to do the best we can, just like them and we’ll see where the chips fall and see where they lie at the end.”

Across the city, the Hawks have prepared all week for their rematch with Holy Trinity Academy, who Hat High beat 20-8 on Aug. 27. Hawks head coach Quinn Skelton says he doesn’t want his team to lay back knowing they’ve beat HTA before.

“We played HTA earlier in the year and what you don’t want to do is sit back and think, ‘Well we beat them last time we played,’” Skelton said. “They are a heck of a lot different team now in November than they were in August and I think we are, too. But now it’s preparing for the November team and respecting the fact that they are a heck of a ball club and they have some really good coaching and really good athletes.”

The Hawks are coming off a close win last week when they beat the Cardston Cougars 27-26 on an un-converted Cougars two point conversion to advance to provincials. Skelton says the close win gives the Hawks a good mindset heading into the win or go home game.

“I like the mindset for our games coming off our game “I like the mindset for our games coming off our game against Cardston because we know how tough Cardston is as a club and being down 20-5 at halftime and showing the back bone and the guts to come back and grind it out to pull out the win is a character builder for our boys and shows well for them,” Skelton said. “I think if we end up in another tough game, I trust that we have the character and the back bone of these kids they’ll come to play.”

Hawks senior Kai Noon said the Hawks had a lot to learn from their win against Cardston that can help them Saturday.

“A big part of it is learning from the mistakes we were making and then building off of the things we were doing good,” Noon said. “There was a lot of good we can take from that game and a lot of bad we can learn from. So we just have to take that and translate it into this matchup.”

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