Hunting Hills Joe Hunt (#1 blue) returns a kick for a touchdown with under two minutes left in the game to get the score to 23-20. Bert Church ultimately won 30-20 to advance to the provincial final. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

not their day

Hunting Hills fall to Bert Church in provincial football semi-final

Nov 9, 2019 | 4:27 PM

It was snowy, icy and cold with a windchill of -14 on Saturday for the Football Alberta Tier 2 provincial semifinal at Setters Place in Red Deer.

Unfortunately for the Hunting Hills Lightning, it also wasn’t their day, as they lost 30-20 to Airdrie’s Bert Church Chargers.

It was an inauspicious start for the Lightning who received the ball, but fumbled it on the opening play. The D-line was able to stand up the Chargers offence, but ultimately gave up a safety on the ensuing drive.

With the Chargers up 2-0 in the 2nd quarter, Hunting Hills QB Lucas Fuerbringer ran the ball in to give the home team its first and only lead of the game.

Moments later, however, a huge reception by the Chargers allowed them to punch it in from the red zone, and go back up 9-7. Then, with just two seconds left in the half, the visitors extended their lead with yet another touchdown.

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In the second half, the Lightning came out with a purpose, putting up a lengthy drive before facing a 3rd and 3 scenario just outside the red zone. A field goal from Daniel Bae cut the deficit to 16-10.

Moments later, the Lightning found themselves beneficiaries of a 15-yard pass interference call, and Joe Hunt followed that up with a 17-yard run to put Hunting Hills close to paydirt. They settled for another field goal from Bae, however, and it was 16-13.

A missed field goal for Hunting Hills, and another touchdown for Bert Church later, and it was 23-14 for the road team, but that’s when things got really exciting.

With 1:57 left and the Chargers looking like they’d just sealed the deal, Joe Hunt had a kick return for the ages running it all the way down the field to bring the hole back to just three points at 23-20.

Alas, it was too little, too late for the Lightning, who gave up one more touchdown, and Bert Church had secured their ticket to the provincial final.

“We had a really good week of practice … I don’t want to discredit what they did, but today just wasn’t our day. They made big plays, so credit to them,” said Head Coach Kyle Sedgwick post-game.

“”We’ve got a great group of leaders on our team that battled a tremendous amount of adversity. Four straight provincial semi-finals is a pretty amazing feat, and our grade 12s were a part of three of those, but it just wasn’t meant to be today.”

Sedgwick said after taking some time to lament the loss, the Lightning will celebrate their successes.

This is the first time since 1997 that Airdrie’s Bert Church played in the provincial round.