Two Cochrane high school football teams came out on top on the weekend in their respective playoff pools.

The Cochrane Cobras, the number one ranked tier 3 in Alberta, hammered the Bert Church Chargers, 50-7, in the Rocky View Sports divisional semifinals, Oct. 20.

The Cobras got off to a slow start but by the end of the first quarter found their form.

The lopsided victory came in spite of several key offensive players being sidelined by injuries. Several aren’t expected to return to the lineup until the provincial playoffs start against the Cardston Cougars on Nov. 10.

“I’m proud of the young kids,” says co-head coach Rob McNab. “They just keep going. They make mistakes and you correct them and then they keep going and going and going. And having Xavier (Vaillancourt) as your leader makes it pretty good.”

Quarterback Vaillancourt continues to turn heads with an offence built around his passing prowess. Post-secondary institutions are already courting the grade 11 student.

The Chargers' lone touchdown came late in the game when quarterback A. J. Parker connected with receiver Blaise Newberry, who broke away to fall just shy of the goal line. The Chargers pushed it through for six.

Despite the loss, the Chargers are coming off their best season in several seasons. Head coach Steve Larsen says off-season training and a larger bench have helped.

“Going from 1-5 last year to being 3-3 and making playoffs is really big for us. We’re happy and we’re excited to continue improving.”

Even with the lopsided win, Cobras co-head coach Bruce O’Neil saw a much better Charger team since their regular season matchup.

“The first game of the season was 57-0 and that was basically done at halftime,” says O’Neil. “This time they’ve stepped it up.”

In the finals, the Cobras face the second-place Springbank Phoenix, who racked up a 33-13 win against the George McDougall Mustangs in the other semifinal game.

O’Neill says the Phoenix have a young grade 10 quarterback who has improved as the season progressed. The Phoenix is ranked sixth in the province in tier 2.

“They look really good. Their quarterback is throwing the ball well, they’re running it, they have good receivers, the o-lineman are very good and so is their d-line.”

Kick off is 12 noon at the SLS Legacy Sports Field.

Bobcats Win Opening Game in ‘B’ Pool

The Bow Valley Bobcats got the breakthrough they have been seeking all season with a 28-13 win over the Chestermere Lakers in the ‘B’ pool, Oct. 19.

Co-head coach Cam Cote said this potential has been there but just hadn’t surfaced in gameplay.

“They played like they practice,” says Cote. “They haven’t previously done this.”

The Bobcats scored more points in that single game than the entire regular season.

He said the team dominated in the trenches and he salutes his o-line for leading the way. Tailback Connor Pointen was able to plough through the middle and when Chestermere started to load up the box Ben Oliver found room on the outside. First-year quarterback Brody Sidebottom also had a solid passing performance.

Cote sees the win as a chance to right a wrong in the regular-season game against the Lakers. With the game 7-7 late in the fourth, the Bobcats were forced to forfeit when both their quarterbacks went down.

“Safety is number one,” says Cote, “So we had to stop.”

Now the team hopes to do the same in their final game of the year against the W. H. Croxford Cavaliers on Saturday. The Cavaliers beat the Bobcats 27-0 in their first meeting.

Cote says the team is confident they can compete against the Cavaliers.

“It would be great to correct our earlier lost to Croxford in this last game of the season and win the ‘B’ pool.”

Game time is Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. on Ed Eggerer Field in Airdrie.

The Lakers and Cavalier aren’t scheduled to meet until Nov. 3 to close out the ‘B’ playoffs. The winner of the round robin claims the championship.