Defence was king on the MEGlobal Athletic Park Turf Friday.
The Notre Dame Cougars and Lacombe Rams combined for just three touchdowns on the game in Central Alberta High School League Football League play.
Lacombe managed to outlast the Cougars and picked up a well-earned 15-8 victory. It was their first of the season.
“At this point, we’ll take what we can get. It’s nice to get that monkey off our back. It was good to see as many kids get into the game as we got in. A win is a win, that’s all that I care about,” said Rams head coach Brian Ross.
Our defence is as good as any defence in the league. The problem is we have to use so many of them offensively so they get a bit tired. They’re stellar.”
On the first two plays of the game, the Cougars fumbled and the Rams recovered both times. Rams receiver Richard Jans finally found the end zone midway through the first quarter on an eight-yard pass from Mitch Simmons.
Jans said post-game the team was ecstatic with victory and added the defence deserved a lot of the credit.
“It really came down to our defence playing as strong as we could. Making all the hustle plays and playing as a team,” he said.
After a great punt from the Cougars in the second quarter, Notre Dame tackled Simmons for a safety on the next play. That was the only score of the half for Notre Dame.
The Rams were threatening late in the half, but Simmons threw an interception on the Notre Dame one-yard line.
Late in the third quarter, Dawson Gouda made a key interception for the Rams. He returned the ball close to midfield after the takeaway, and the Lacombe offence drove the rest of the way.
Simon Gray eventually hauled in a 14-yard touchdown catch to push the Rams ahead 15-2.
With the offence stalled, Notre Dame Cougars running back Luc Lukalu finally busted out a big run late in the third quarter. The grade 11 back scrambled for a 63-yard touchdown and brought the Cougars within seven.
Guelor Kaongo picked off Simmons early in the fourth quarter with the Cougars trailing by seven, but they simply were not able to move the ball efficiently enough to score.
“Our defence played pretty fantastic. They held us in the game,” Said Cougars coach Ian Rattan.
“The ball was turned over a lot on both sides but our defence gave us a chance to win. We just have to figure something out offensively.”
In other high school football action, the Hunting Hills Lightning topped the Lindsay Thurber Raiders 24-17 at Great Chief Park.
In two weeks on Oct. 12, the Rams will take on the Lightning at Great Chief Park and the Cougars will play the Raiders on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at Great Chief Park.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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