Closing out their regular season with two consecutive wins, the Cochrane Lions bantam football team has a first-round playoff date with the Calgary Cowboys, Oct. 20.

The Lions dominated the newly-formed Chestermere Chiefs, 30-3 on Oct. 13, and the week previous they beat the Colts, 35-7.

“It was a good win,” says Lions head coach Paul Vaillancourt, “It was a good way to end the regular season.”

The Lions have built their offense around the run. Here QB Christian Golam hands off the ball to Luke Zimmerman.

The Lions made the transition late last year from a passing offense to a running offense and it has proven to be a wise choice.  The Lions scored 258 points in eight games, the best in the Ken Toonie Division. In their camp is running back Shaun Clazie, whom Vaillancourt considers the best in the Calgary Bantam Football league.

On the flipside, they have allowed 185 points, far more than the Cowboys or the division-leading Wildcats, who had a 6-2 record.

The Lions are going into the playoffs with a healthy squad, says Vaillancourt. Injured starters and those who had schedule conflicts with hockey tryouts are back in the lineup.

The Cowboys and Lions both had 5-3 records in the regular season for finished fourth and fifth, respectively, overall in the 12-team league. The Cowboys beat the Lions, 24-0, in their regular season meeting.

Win or lose, the Lions will have at least one more game in the bantam playoffs. Saturday’s game time is 9 a.m. on Hellard Field in Calgary’s Shouldice Park.