Hawks win eighth straight RFC title

By JAMES TUBB on November 1, 2022.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The Medicine Hat High Hawks continued their Rangeland Football championship streak on Friday.

The Hawks beat the Crescent Heights Vikings 21-0 on Friday at the Methanex Bowl to secure their eighth straight RFC title and 21st since 1980.

Hawks head coach Quinn Skelton said it was a sweet night.

“All year we’ve been fortunate to work with a really great bunch of young kids and it’s been a pleasure getting those kids out there and having them perform the way they did,” Skelton said.

He said winning Rangeland marks a good year for the Hawks, with a great year coming in the South Zone finals. The Hawks head to Lethbridge on Friday to face Chinook High School for the South Tier 2 zone championship. He said the senior Hawks will play a lot as every game counts even more come playoffs.

“The boys all know that it’s one game each week, win and go on and lose and you go home,” Skelton said. “They’re playing for the next one each and every Friday now.”

Across the field from the Hawks, Crescent Heights head coach Scott Wendell said the Vikings put themselves behind early with turnovers and tipped his cap to the Hawks for capturing the title.

“We were right behind the 8-ball from the get go, and with the weather, we made it really challenging to get some forward momentum,” Wendell said. “At halftime we really challenged the boys to stick together, play hard in that second half and especially defensively to respond. We played much better in the second half and we played together as a team.”

The Vikings still have games on their schedule as they have a week off before they head to Strathmore on Nov. 12 for the Tier 3 quarterfinals. He said the number of days between the RFC finals loss and their game against Strathmore allows them to get healthy and game plan to keep their year alive.

“That game was a really physical game for us, and both the teams I’m sure are feeling it a little bit. I know heading into the dressing room after the game there was a lot of players really beat up, but I’m proud of the effort that they gave and nobody quit,” Wendell said. “We’ve got the luxury of having some extra time so we can kind of heal up and really dig into the film and figure out who their best players are, what they want to do. To hopefully take away the things they’re comfortable with and make them do the things that they’re least comfortable with.”

While the Hawks and Vikings have games ahead, the McCoy Colts RFC season came to a close last Friday with a 30-0 loss on the road to the Brooks Buffalos.

Head coach Jole Krassman said the Colts’ game management is what cost them but credited players for stepping into new roles in the game.

“We had an injury with a quarterback, too – not an excuse – trying to put a new guy into a new system and Carsen MacDonald, he did a heck of a job for us. He stepped in on short notice and did well,” Krassman said. “We had our moments, we had really good chances and then game management was a big issue, we just didn’t manage properly.”

The Colts head into their offseason off a trying, building year for the program. Krassman said the players will get a couple weeks off before they get into their offseason work and try to build toward next season success.

“After getting in the weight room and all that jazz, I think will be a lot better, I’m definitely excited,” Krassman said. “I now know what needs to be accomplished and where we need to improve and what I need to improve on as well. Some of the systems where we need fixing and I’m very excited.”

17
-16