The Cochrane Cobras remain #1 in Alberta's Tier 3 high school football and are coming off a solid performance against the St. Francis Browns last Friday.

What was originally scheduled to be a game was postponed until Monday due to an official shortage. Instead, the teams opted to play a scrimmage late Friday afternoon.

Cobras head coach Rob McNab says it still proved to be beneficial for both teams.

"I can't speak totally for them, but I'm sure they were pretty pleased with the fact that they got a lot of reps for their kids," says McNab. "They threw the ball a lot, which traditionally, in my books, is uncharacteristic for St. Francis. For us, we tried the run game, which didn't go very well for us, but the passing game was pretty effective, and we got Christian (Golem) a lot of reps. It boils down to getting a lot of reps that you may not necessarily get in a game."

The Cobras aren't content with simply playing teams in the Rocky View league before taking a run at their eighth consecutive provincial championship. They typically look elsewhere for competition. Some years, that's Stateside and British Columbia for games that also double as team-building exercises.

"The goal is for us to see different teams. When you go to Tier 1, it's a different speed, a different intensity, and physicality, and we just need to see that sometimes. You kind of get in your own league and own little box. St. Francis, along with other Tier 1 teams, plays at a different speed and we want to see if our kids are going to match up and man up a little bit and they did a terrific job."

The Cobras have one other exhibition game to take a look outside of the box. They host the Tier 2 Holy Trinity Knights on Oct. 6. Two weeks into the high school season, the Knights are ranked first in tier 2.

This Friday, the Cobras and Bow Valley Bobcats meet for a regular season game at the SLS Legacy Sports Field. Kick-off is 4 p.m.

McNab came into the season with some high expectations.

"Skillwise, I'm pretty pleased with where we are. We just have to stay injury free, and we've got to get better every week, every team does,"

It's also part of the Cobras' philosophy to give back. You'll see players in jerseys lending a hand at community events, like the Sept. 11 Fall Colours Show and Shine and the Labour Day Monday parade.

"It's about giving back. The community gives to you, and you give back. We've gone out and shoveled sidewalks when people are stranded, we'll go delivery flyers in the community, we'll clean up garbage, just anything we can do to be of service."

Cobras and carCobras were on hand to assist at the Fall Colours Show and Shine, including Ethan Price, left, and Jessie Groot. Yes, they had permission to touch the vehicle briefly for this photo.