Like a well-oiled machine the Drumheller Titans rolled their way on to the field, over Holy Rosary and back into the provincial spotlight winning its third championship in as many years.
Or, in simpler terms, 3-Peat!
The Drumheller Senior Titans brought home their third Tier IV provincial championship in as many years over the weekend. They defeated Holy Rosary of Lloydminster by a dominating 42-18. The championship is the perfect close to yet another powerhouse Titans season. The team will be celebrating the win and season on Sunday at their annual banquet.
The Titans stood tough winning 42-18. Coach Ken Fournier is proud of the team.
“The did really well. They were focused in the locker room before the game. They were talking about scenarios; what they had to do, what they had to say to each other, how to react,” said Fournier. “These kids are like a bunch of coaches. They know the game quite well, especially the guys that were there for the three-peat. The have been involved in a lot of football in three years and on the biggest stage, so a big congratulations to them for the things they were able to do on the field.”
While the Titans were dominant, it wasn’t a cakewalk. In fact, Holy Rosary led in the first quarter for a short time until Jakub St. Jean broke through for the Titans’ first touchdown.
In the first quarter we came out and took some penalties early and they went up by two,” said Fournier. “It took us a little bit to get going, but once we got a feel for them things started rolling for us.”
After that, the Titans began their charge. Holy Rosary was able to take away the Titans’ passing game, but on the ground Spencer Fournier, St. Jean and Aiden Enns were able to make gains.
On the defensive end, Holy Rosary came with a passing game, but the Titans made some adjustments.
“We let a couple deep balls go which is to be expected. I mean, there is a reason the other team is there in the final, and they can move the ball really well in the air, so we expected to see a few big plays to happen, but we reacted to it,” said Fournier. “I think that is what is good about us playing in quite a few big games over the last few years. These guys learned how to respond in big games.”
He said while there were some standouts, it was a team effort from offense to defense and special teams who captured the day
“Everyone stepped in and contributed,” said Fournier.
With three championships and domination of the playoffs, there have been talks about moving up a tier.
Teams are typically grouped by school size to make the competition even, however, if they felt it was advantageous a team could move up to the next tier to face larger schools and possibly tougher competition.
Fournier said this has been considered.
“What we do now is look a the numbers at the school, look at the future and what is coming up in the program. Moving up a tier is something that has been talked about throughout all levels of our organization,” said Fournier. “Moving up is quite a big process, you have to look at the demographics and decide if that is the best step for the program. If we continue to have strong numbers and the support we have, hat is something we can look at. But if our school population starts to go down or our bantam and peewee teams are struggling, then that is factored in as well.”
The Titans will be celebrating their season at their annual banquet on Sunday afternoon.
