Calgary High School Football: Week One Recap

The opening week of high school football in Calgary had some rocky moments to start, but all sheduled games were completed, and some of them were incredibly close and exciting...including the one that Football Alberta called Calgary's Game of the Week. This week's game of the week featured the Ernest Manning Griffins taking on the Notre Dame Pride. The Griffins came into the game ranked number six in Football Alberta's 5A Ranking, while the Pride came in at number eight.

With both teams dealing with injuries to some key players (including an injury to the Griffins' starting quarterback), the game started very tight and stiff defensively, with both teams standing tall against the other team's offence. A scary moment occurred when a Pride defensive player went down after delivering a hit with 11:21 remaining in the first quarter...he stayed down for several minutes, and ended up leaving the game in an ambulance...luckily he is okay.

The only score of the first half was a Notre Dame field goal with 2:31 left in the first quarter, giving the Pride a 3-0 lead at the break. Near the end of the first half, the Pride were driving in Griffins territory, but the two teams combined for four turnovers in that part of the field, preventing ND from getting a score before the half.

In the second half, with Notre Dame's offense struggling to move the ball, the Griffins had many opportunities to score by moving the ball into ND territory a few times, but the Pride's defence proved up to the task...stiffening the Griffins and holding them scoreless in the third quarter. Late in the third quarter, Manning got great field position after a short punt, then went downfield and got inside the ND 15 yard line, aided by a pass interference penalty against the Pride. The Griffins finished the drive with a touchdown, giving them a 7-3 lead with 11:27 left in the fourth quarter. Later on, the Pride had the Griffins pinned near their own goal line, and forced a two-and-out. The Griffins chose to concede a safety on the ensuing play, cutting their lead to 7-5.

Later in the quarter, an interception by the Griffins with less than two minutes to play appeared to seal a victory for them, but the Notre Dame defence held firm and kept the Griffins from capitalizing on the turnover. In the final seconds, Notre Dame was pinned near their own 10, but managed to drive into Manning territory thanks to a pair of big receptions, both of which went for at least 20 yards. With time winding down, ND lined up for a 35 yard field goal attempt...the kick was blocked with no time left, but the Griffins were called for roughing the kicker on the play, resulting in a 15 yard penalty and giving the Pride another shot. This kick from 20 yards away just cleared the crossbar, giving the Pride an improbable come-from-behind win, beating the Griffins 8-7.

Other games from around the Calgary league saw the programs from Dr. E.P. Scarlett and Central Memorial fielding their own teams again after being merged for the last ten years...and they both got wins in their opening games. Scarlett beat St. Mary's 26-16, and Central beat reigning Division 3 Champions John G. Diefenbaker 34-2. The latter game was one of two that were originally scheduled for Thursday night, but were moved to Monday due to field scheduling conflicts. The other game in question saw Bishop O'Byrne win in lopsided fashion against Robert Thirsk, 38-6, but Thirsk's lone score was a 92-yard touchdown by their running back.

The other game from Thursday saw reigning Division 2 Champions Crescent Heights open up their season against Our Lady of the Rockies (a game in which both teams were wearing white jerseys for some reason), losing 15-6 in a tight contest.

The other Friday Night games saw another exciting finish...Lord Beaverbrook pulled a surprising upset against Bishop Carroll (ranked number four in the 4A rankings), by scoring a touchdown with 14 seconds remaining, and successfully completing a two-point conversion to steal a 22-21 win. Elsewhere, Joane Cardinal Schubert defeated William Aberhart 30-15, while Bowness trashed Western Canada by a whopping 49-0. Meanwhile, St. Francis, the reigning Division 1 Champions, and the number four ranked team in 5A, started their season off with a resounding 34-9 victory over Henry Wise Wood.