Central Alberta High School Football League begins this week

The Notre Dame Cougars will look to defend their title following a magical season that saw them go a perfect 8-0 for the first time since 2009.

Head coach Ian Rattan said they were able to get 66 players out this year to form two senior football teams, one that plays in the Central Alberta High School Football League, and another that plays six-man football.

There will be 46 on the senior team and 20 on the second squad. Out of the 46-player roster, the Cougars will field 26 returning players with 20 new players.

“I think we should be very competitive again this year,” Rattan said. “We lost some very important pieces from our team last year, but we do have some fairly good athletes coming back.”

Rattan added that despite the high expectations, as long as the players are giving their best effort every day, the coaching staff will be happy with the results.

“We were the top team in central Alberta last year, so there’s that target on your back where everyone’s trying to dethrone whoever the past champions was,” he said. “We’ll take it one week at a time and try to get better every single week. Hopefully by the end of the season, we’ll be back in the championship game.”

Notre Dame will take on the Hunting Hills Lightning on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. at Setter’s Place in Red Deer.

Hunting Hills Lightning

Meantime, the Lightning will look to return to the top and avenge their loss in the league finals.

Head coach Kyle Sedgwick said this year they’re a younger team with a small Grade 12 class, but he feels they still have quite a bit of experience.

They’re also excited about bringing in the group of Grade 10 players, who helped the Lightning bantam football program win the league title last year.

“There are a lot of guys coming up from Grade 10 who really care about football, and to be honest with you, I’ve been very impressed with our whole team this camp,” he said. “We’re going to be competitive this year, and I think over the next few years the future is bright for Hunting Hills football, which is very exciting as well.”

With a roster of 50 players, the Lightning have just 10 Grade 12s with the remaining 40 consisting of Grade 10 and 11 players.

Sedgwick hopes his team can improve throughout the season so that they’re peaking at the right moment come playoff time.

“Our goal is to compete and if we end up making it to the league final we are going to try our best to win,” he said. “We’ve been in our league final 13 times in the last 15 years and obviously you can’t win them all.”

As noted. Hunting Hills and Notre Dame square off in each team’s season opener on Sept. 5.

HJ Cody Lakers

The Sylvan Lake-based team is also hoping to put their best foot forward, despite lower numbers on the roster this season.

They’ll look to do so under new head coach Jamieson Blinkhorn, who took over for longtime head coach Jeremy Braitenback, who will remain with the team as an assistant coach.

Blinkhorn said they still have work to do, but the team has looked solid through exhibition play and in practices leading up to this week.

“At this point in the season, we like what we’re working with,” he said. “Our expectation is to make the playoffs and we have every intention in playing in the postseason. As far as where we sit in the league, I’ll leave that one up for debate.”

At this point, the team has fielded a roster between 25-30 players but are hoping to get a few more players out. Last year, they graduated 20 players so heading into this season they have more Grade 10 players than any other grade.

“I’m excited to take on my first year as the Lakers head coach and I’m excited about the team we have. We’re ready to go.”

The Lakers will kickoff their season on Friday, Sept. 5 at 4 p.m. in Sylvan Lake against the Lacombe Rams.

Lindsay Thurber Raiders

The Raiders are also entering this season with a younger roster but head coach Ole Stearns said it’s been an exciting three weeks of preparation heading into their first game.

This year they have 50 players on the roster including 15 Grade 12s, 10 Grade 11s, and and 25 Grade 10s.

Stearns is looking forward to the first game to see what some of his younger players can do.

“We graduated 22 Grade 12s last year and nine actually went on to the next level. That was phenomenal,” Stearns said. “We’re hoping to compete in every single game and make sure that we play as hard as we can.”

The longtime head coach added that watching the kids grow as players in a short time is very promising, which he said says a lot about his coaching staff and what they’ve taught the players.

Iron Ridge Secondary Campus Bisons

The Bisons will kick off their inaugural campaign in the Central Alberta High School Football League.

Head coach Joe McQuay, who took a role as athletic director for the school, said he brought a football program to the school because a survey revealed it was one of the biggest things the community wanted at the new school.

McQuay, who is also the league commissioner, previously served as an assistant coach on the Hunting Hills Lightning program for three years and also played at the university level. With his experience in football, he felt it was the perfect spot for a new program.

“It’s very community driven as to why we have a team here,” he said. “We are going to be young because we don’t have the luxury of building off years and years of success, so our first game will be a good test to see where we are.”

This year they will play their home games out of Setters Place while they wait for the grass to grow on their new field located outside the school. They will field three Grade 12s with the remaining roster of over 30 players, as Grade 10s and 11s.

“The goal for the group is to fall in love with the game and find the passion for it so we can focus on building a culture,” McQuay said. “Whichever successes come or don’t come this year, it’s all good as long as we can build something that’s sustained.”

The Bisons will face off against the Raiders on Thursday, Sept. 4 in the league’s first game of the year at 7 p.m. at Setter’s Place.

Camrose, Stettler, and Lacombe

rdnewsNOW was unable to reach Camrose, Stettler, and Lacombe before deadline.

However, Camrose will take on Stettler Friday to begin the season at 7 p.m., in Stettler. Lacombe will face HJ Cody in Sylvan Lake on Friday at 4 p.m.

by rdnewsNOW staff