The Hunting Hills Lightning lost on Friday after winning their third straight a week ago against city rival Lindsay Thurber (pictured here) at Great Chief Park. (Kevin Rische)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

high school football

Lightning thriving despite first loss to Trinity Knights

Oct 7, 2019 | 6:00 AM

The perennial contender Hunting Hills Lightning finally lost a game on Friday in senior Alberta Football League action.

The final score was 10-6 for the Tier 2 #1 ranked Holy Trinity Academy Knights out of Okotoks, who were the first to knock off the 3rd ranked Lightning in four games this season. Prior to Friday’s matchup at Setters Place, the Lightning were averaging 28 points per game.

Head coach Kyle Sedgwick points out his squad has been successful thus far despite a number of injuries to key players.

“We’re lucky enough to have had some success over the last number of years, so with that, guys that are in grade 11 or 12 that have been around, they know how to prepare, how to win games and they’ve become the leaders,” says Sedgwick. “It’s a challenge because our numbers are a little bit lower this year, but that’s cyclical. You need a little bit of luck along the way to avoid injuries, but sometimes you just can’t.”

Hunting Hills beat Trinity last season before losing to them in the provincial semi-final, an experience which plays into the teachings that go beyond the technical side of football.

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“We have a long way to go. We want to be very competitive and we treat senior high school football like midget AAA hockey. For many of these young men, this is the highest level of football they’ll play,” Sedgwick says. “We want to take it very seriously and it’s a lot of work, but we’re also teaching them how to be accountable young men in our building, good student-athletes, teaching them life skills of accountability, time management and discipline. That’s what football is really, really good at.”

The Lightning have a chance to grab momentum back this Thursday as they play their cross-town rival, the Lindsay Thurber Raiders. Both teams are 2-0 in Central League play this season, thus the game will be for first place as teams inch toward regional playoffs. Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m. at Setters Place.

Elsewhere, the Notre Dame Cougars will take on the Lacombe Composite Rams at ME Global Park starting at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.