It is not very often you get a snow bowl in September.
That was exactly the case Friday in Central Alberta High School Football League regular season play.
The Hunting Hills Lightning managed to wiggle out a 30-14 victory over the Notre Dame Cougars, battling through the elements all night long.
“It was a battle of the elements for both teams. Regardless of that we wanted to try some things in the passing game. We got a big one early, we tried to go back to it a couple times. Then went to the run after that,” said Lightning head coach Kyle Sedgwick.
“This is a conference game, but we wanted to stick to our game plan. Our defence played very well in the first half. They didn’t have many yards and didn’t have many first downs.”
From the opening kickoff forward, it was nearly a whiteout at field level and by halftime, there was at least a centimetre of snow on the field.
Dolan Hills had a massive game on the ground for the Lightning, who were somewhat forced to run the ball because of the weather. They took some shots in the air, but it was Hills who was a workhorse at running back. He finished the night with 16 carries for 167 yards and a touchdown.
“He was not originally our running back this year. Two of them left us. He’s an exceptional young man and player,” Sedgwick said.
“He’s going to carry us. We didn’t want to risk too many injuries, he’s the type of guy that will play every play at linebacker or running back. Later in the season, we’re going to need that.”
Quarterback Haidan Brown got the Lightning on the board early with a 17-scamper into the end zone and hit Zach Sanderson for a five-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter. At half the Lightning had a 15-0 lead.
Notre Dame finally got the running game going in the second half. Josh Burke cashed a touchdown from four yards out in the fourth quarter before Jaxyn Flunder pushed in a nine-yard score with only 30 seconds remaining in the game.
Joe Hedlund also had a 15-yard pick-six for the Lightning early in the fourth quarter.
Flunder ended the night with eight carries for 81 yards. Josh Burke had 15 carries for 66 yards and Spencer Henderson chipped in 71 yards on the ground.
“We have to start. We have to play 48 minutes. The last 24 minutes, our kids show up and they played,” said Cougars head coach Ian Rattan.
“Super impressed with Spencer Henderson. We turned the ball over deep in their end, he rips it out of the guy’s hands to extend the drive down 23 points. That’s fantastic. We have that effort from all 45 guys from minute one– we have to have the consistent effort.”
Next week, the Lightning will square off with the Lindsay Thurber Raiders at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 and the Cougars will travel to Lacombe to take on the Rams at MEGlobal Athletic Park at 7 p.m.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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