Sports | DrumhellerMail

Acme volleyballers vie for provincial championships

    Acme School dominated the courts this past weekend when all four of its volleyball teams headed off to zones.
   Both of the senior volleyball teams will be heading off to provincials in Vermillion this coming weekend, after the boys placed first at zones and the girls second.
   “It was a great weekend for us,” said senior boys head coach Murray Huddle. “We have a pretty good history of being able to put competitive teams on the floor.”
   Last year, the senior boys came home from provincials as champions, while the senior girls earned second place. For the boys, they are heading to provincials with a brand new squad after most of last year’s team graduated. The new team has had its share of adversity, but are ready for provincials.
   “My team is a very young team. We didn’t do very much during the season. We made the semi finals of some tournaments, but we’re starting to play great now. It’s the right time of year to do that,” said Huddle. “I had eleven guys on the roster and only one was returning, so everyone was new and young. It’s great to see them develop. There’s quite a jump between junior ball and senior ball. You basically have guys who are almost men slamming the ball at you. The biggest challenge was to make a team out of a bunch of young lads.”
   The junior varsity teams also performed well. The junior girls came home from Duchess zone champions while the boys won second place. However, provincials are not held at the junior level and both teams season’s are over on a high note.
   “We won the zones, but at this level we don’t head to provincials,” said head coach Tracy Leinweber.
   The junior girls went undefeated at zones and had a strong season from start to finish. The team had a good league record and won a couple tournaments over the course of the season.
   “We’ve had a good season. One of the unique things about this team is we had five girls from Carbon join us this year. With the addition of the Carbon girls we had a really strong team. We had a really successful season and the girls went to zones ready to play,” said Leinweber.
   With their season over, the junior teams are already looking ahead to next season. Many of the players will move up to the senior level and a new group of players will begin their volleyball careers.
   “It’ll be mostly new girls. Like any small school it changes from year to year. It was a good season and this team might be hard to top,” said Leinweber.
   The senior teams leave for provincials in Vermillion on Wednesday. Over the next two days they will play in a round robin, followed by, if they succeed, playoffs and the chance to be named provincial champions.

The Acme senior boys and senior girls volleyball teams are heading off to provincials this weekend in Vermillion after placing first and second in their respective zones tournaments. The boys team, pictured here consists of Logan Pratt, Austin Keet, Austin Marsh, Liam O Brien, Brendan Campbell, Taylor Klassen, Jeff Wong, Taylor Jeninga, John Friessen, Brock Toews, Russell Malaka, and Calvin Stern.

The Acme junior varsity volleyball teams ended their seasons this past weekend. The JV boys came home from zones with a second place finish and the JV girls earned a zone championship. The JV girls teams pictured here consists of Destinee Campbell, Jessica Woolley, Shayla Westman, Abbie Neufeld, Maria Penner, Micayla Code, Sam Penner, Cianna Hambling, Shaelynne Bystrom, Jenna MacCarahan, coach Tracy Leinweber, and assistant coach Colby Reimer.

Titans battle for second provincial championship

    The stage is set for a repeat of last year’s Tier IV provincial football final and the Titans are in the thick of it.
   The senior Titans football team steamrolled a competent Willow Creek squad to qualify for the championship this coming Saturday, 11 a.m., at the University of Alberta Foote Field.
   “It was a good game. They still played really well, and had a few good drives on us, they came out and ran a balanced game, but our defense didn’t want anything to go into the end zone,” said head coach Ken Fournier.
   The Titans prepared well for Willow Creek School and came out running. They drew first blood and, save for one touchdown, kept the Willow Creek team off the scoreboard.
   Coach Fournier said the Titans took pride in their defense effort on their way to at 47-7 win.
   “The seven points they gave up were on special teams,” said Fournier. “They got into our red zone three time and the defense shut them down. This was a great game for everybody on defense…they (Willow Creek) had a couple big plays but other than that we were pretty stingy.”
   On offence the Titans had a balanced attack scoring in the air and on the ground. Michael Cameron was a standout with two touchdowns on the pass, as well as a number of completions. On defense he has a couple sacks as well.
   “He was a beast out there, he was everywhere he needed to be,” said Fournier.
   He respects Willow Creek.
   “They were a team that were really coming on towards the end of the year,” said Fournier. “They were ready for us and came out of the locker room running. They wanted to go to Edmonton.”
   For the final it seems like déjà vu. Ardrossan was expected to be back, and in fact they were looking forward to seeing Drumheller if they returned.
   “Defensively I am more comfortable playing a team I know. Offensively we have a lot of tools. We have become a pretty balanced offense and we can move the ball in all areas,” said Fournier. “Ardrossan is going to be a good opponent, they didn’t get to the same game for no reason. The rematch is exciting. We talked to the guys about it. They (Ardrossan) are going to come out wanting it. They don’t want to lose to us twice, and they will be prepared. They were commenting before their regular season started, that if they made it, we are the team they want to play.”
   He says the team is good shape. While a rock hard frozen field added to the bumps and bruises for the Titans, Fournier says they are relatively intact. They lost Janzen Ohlhauser to injury, and while Spencer Fournier was on the bench versus Claresholm, he is expected back for the provincial championships.
   “Playing on the hard turf had us banged up, we have a couple guys with cuts and scrapes and sore backs, but nothing that bad. With playing in the cold weather it doesn’t take much,” said Fournier.
   The final is this Saturday at Foote Field at the University of Alberta at 11 a.m. Fournier is looking forward.
   “As soon as you know you are going to the big game it feels good and pressure is off. We are looking forward to it and we will go out there and do the best we can. We will leave it all out on the field,” said Fournier.

Get on the bus and cheer for the Titans

    This season it truly seemed like the Titans has an extra man on the field through playoffs, and the hope to bring him to Edmonton.
   The Titans were in the fortunate position of having home field advantaged through its league playoffs and then the provincials. The fan support was incredible with great turnouts on even the most blustery of days. A squad of cheerleaders also got into the act this season.
   Drumheller Football would like to recreate this home field advantage and take as many fans as they can to Edmonton this Saturday November 24 to watch the Titans defend their provincial championship.
   Lynn Hemming said they have a fan bus organized to head to the game Saturday. It will be leaving from DVSS on Saturday at 6 a.m.
   Tickets to ride are $40 and available to students and the public alike. To get one of the spots on the bus, sign up at the DVSS office. Book your seat now because space is limited.

Bantam Titans’ season ends at provincial semifinal

    The Bantam Titans left nothing on the field as they battled Medicine Hat at the provincial semifinal.
   In the end it wasn’t the Titans’ day, as Medicine Hat advanced. However with the team’s best finishes in history, they can hold their heads high.
   Head coach Paul Redmond said he felt the game was in reach, however some of the uncontrollable variables continued to weigh on the Titans, including the chilly weather. The bantams also had some trouble holding on to the ball,
   “I felt we could have beat them and should have beat them. If we hadn’t fumbled the ball so much, and these came back and haunted us again,” said Redmond.
   He adds the two weeks between games, had the team out of sync on the field. Medicine Hat was a strong opponent found a weak spot on the left side of the Titans’ defense, an exploited it.
   “We tried to change and adjust, but he had some pretty good blockers and they are well coached,” said Redmond, adding coming from a large urban school, Medicine Hat was able to dress 30 players for the game.
   The Titans lost 35-0 but kept up the pressure.
   “They fought right to the end, they tried to score on the last play, but it just didn’t happen,” said Redmond. “Had we stayed in there and not fumbled we could have kept it close and maybe eventually won it.”
   The Bantams will see a few key players moving up next season, and that will have an impact on their line-up. Aden Enns and Nick Kakuk were standouts who will be moving up, along with quarterback Mitch Ostergard, as well as a few linemen.
   “I have guys in behind that filing their sports, so they will be stepping up to that spot next year,” sad Redmond.
   The success of the program continues to help it grow.
   “We did fairly well this year and fairly well last year and hopefully that will draw a few more, and if the seniors win this next game it will make it even better,” said Redmond.

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