NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Keene Shigehiro of the Medicine Hat High Hawks runs past a group of Catholic Central Cougars in the Hawks' 36-0 playoff win Friday at the Methanex Bowl.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat High Hawks senior football team will play for the 4A South Zone championship this weekend.
The Hawks beat the Catholic Central Cougars 36-0 on Oct. 25, punching their ticket to the South Zone finals against the Cougars who beat the Monsignor McCoy Colts 17-15 the game prior.
The Hawks led 8-0 at half time before tallying 26 points in the second half for the win.
Hat High head coach Quinn Skelton liked his team’s second-half effort.
“It took us a while to get going – mentality, emotionally – just tough getting going in the first half,” Skelton said. “And after a brief chat in the locker room, the boys came out and performed a heck of a lot better.”
The Hawks’ lone touchdown in the first half came from quarterback James Comstock with a goal-line score. A missed field goal was made up for with the Cougars giving up a safety.
Keene Shigehiro had three rushing TDs in the second half for the Hawks. He also had three rushing scores called back on flags. Ryder Parker caught a TD pass from Comstock for the final score of the game.
Looking ahead to the matchup Friday, 7:30 p.m. at the Methanex Bowl, and a team the Hawks beat 46-6 on Oct. 24, Skelton says they’re looking forward to the contest and facing them in better weather than last time.
“We played them last time in a real hurricane in Lethbridge, and it was just a nasty type of condition to play in,’ Skelton said. “They’ll definitely be hungry to come and play us again and redeem themselves because we had a pretty good score against them down there. So they’ll have a lot of pride coming in here and they’ll want to knock us off.”
Earlier in the week, Hawks’ punter Ira Hozack won $3,000 for Hat High courtesy of NFL Canada Way to Play awards. The Grade 12 athlete submitted a video of his technique on a kickoff rouge and a 50-plus yard punt in the 46-6 win over Chinook.
“He deserves the recognition,” Skelton said. “He’s worked really hard at his craft, and he’s a heck of a kicker. It’s really exciting to have him show up on CTV and on commercials between NFL games.”
Colts vs. Vikings
The McCoy Colts and Crescent Heights Vikings will face off in a consolation contest Friday night. Crescent Heights lost 37-6 to W.R. Myers in their 3A South Zone matchup on Oct. 25.
The two teams will face off at 5 p.m. at the Methanex Bowl.
