The final standings are close to being set on top of the Central Alberta High School Football League.
The Notre Dame Cougars, 7-0, wrapped up first place with a 36-23 victory over the Wetaskiwin Sabres in Wetaskiwin while the Sylvan Lake Lakers have assured themselves of no worse than a tie for fourth with a 39-13 win over the visiting Lindsay Thurber Raiders.
The Lakers, 4-3, should have the edge if it comes down to a tie-breaker as they beat both the teams that could tie them — the Sabres, 3-4, and the Camrose Trojans, 3-4 — during the regular season.
Meanwhile, the Lacombe Rams downed the West Central Rebels of Rocky Mountain House 48-0 and set up a battle with the Hunting Hills Lightning next Friday at Great Chief Park for second place. Both teams sport a 6-1 record.
The Cougars have one game remaining — next Friday at 4 p.m. at Great Chief Park against Camrose — but even a loss won’t hurt them as they defeated both teams that could tie them — Lacombe and Hunting Hills.
In Sylvan Lake, the Raiders led 7-6 at the half.
However, the Lakers pulled away with 14 unanswered points in the third quarter.
Brad Huhnold and Ryan Winder led the Lakers with a pair of touchdowns each while Howie Gray and Ian Graham, who also had a two-point convert, added single majors. Sean Wood had a convert. Greg Fowler and Kyle Pickett scored touchdowns for the Raiders while Brody Slagman added a convert.
Winder led the Lakers with 107 yards rushing on eight carries while Huhnold had 82 yards on five carries and Graham 67 on two tries. Fowler had 69 yards on 17 carries for the Raiders.
Howie Gray connected on 11 of 19 passes for 210 yards for Sylvan Lake with Graham catching five passes for 70 yards and Winder four for 90. Kyle O’Meara hit on 11 of 16 passes for LTCHS with Eliot Mahood catching four for 55 yards, Fowler three for 33 yards and Pickett three for 30.
In Lacombe, Skylar Sargeant carried 20 times for 244 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams. He also grabbed a 30-yard pass for a touchdown and added a two-point convert.
Dalen Kolybaba added a pair of touchdowns while Tanner Green and Taylor Waldbauer had one each. Cale Jacobs had four converts. Kolybaba had 68 yards rushing on five carries and Green 56 on seven.