Review staff:
Last year at this time, they were little more than a series of X’s and O’s on a piece of paper, but in just 12 short months, the Buck Mountain Mustangs have gone from paper to grass and were on the verge of advancing to the championship finals of the Western Alberta Six-Man Football League.
“Yes we’re very pleased with the performance of our players. The team has really come along way,” said Head Coach Kris Denney of his team. “Considering we started in the spring with students who had never played football before, they certainly have picked up the nuisances of the game. Each week we seemed to have improved in one aspect of the game or another.”
Improve indeed. The Mustangs are coming off a huge 46-20 beating of the Ponoka Broncs that sent them to the league semi-final against the Breton Cougars who are the defending champions.
In assessing their team, both Denney and Assistant Coach Jak Berezan said rather than specific star players, the Mustangs bring a very balanced attack to the field with strength of offense, defense and special teams.
“We feel we are a balanced team, although we feel we need to work a bit more on the basics, blocking and tackling to be specific,” Denney said. “The boys have really began to understand the game and as a result we have been able to expand our playbook each week. We have really been pleases with the development of all our players.”
As for the previously mentioned Cougars who defeated the Mustangs 24-13 earlier in the season, Denney said the team spent practice time last week working on their offensive scheme.
“Well to be truthful, we were not totally please with our last performance against Breton. The defense really did play well but we did not move the ball on offense,” Denney said. “We really focused on our blocking and execution on offense and we feel a lot better about this aspect going into this week’s game. But we are confident that we can compete with Breton and we will see what happens on the field.”
Win or lose against the Cougars, Denney said things are already looking bright for the future of his team with a core group of players committed to returning next season.
“Things are quite positive for use in the future. Unfortunately we are losing five players next year but our nucleus, including our quarterback, two running backs and our safety are returning,” the coach said.
“Another positive aspect is that this team has generated a lot of excitement with our students, parent and members of the community. We have been blown away by the support we have received. As a result we see things improving as far as number of students trying out for the team,” Denney added. “As we previously stated we have received a ton of support this year. The number of fans that come out to our games even when we are on the road is impressive. This program has really got our community excited and the school is proud to be able to offer this program to the kids.”
Update: Unfortunately for the Mustangs, their magical season came to an abrupt end last Thursday afternoon as they fell to the Cougars by a score of 48-32. In the other semi-final game however, the Rimbey Spartans dug deep and came up with a 57-42 win over Millwoods Christian School of Edmonton. As a result, the final will be a rematch of last year’s championship game with Rimbey traveling to Breton to face the Cougars. That game will be played this coming Friday starting at 3:00 p.m.