Sports | DrumhellerMail - Page #82
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Last updateThu, 19 Sep 2024 5pm

Dragons open season versus Bandits tonight

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The season begins Friday for the Drumheller Dragons.
    The Dragons’ official home opener is September 13 as they come back to the Dragons den to take on the defending champions the Brooks Bandits. On Saturday night September 14, the Okotoks Oilers come to town.
    This comes after a strong preseason where the Dragons notched wins over the Camrose Kodiaks, and the Olds Grizzlys.
    They will have their work cut out for them with the Bandits. The team faced off once in the preseason with the bandits stealing a 6-1 victory. Brooks was 2-1 versus the Okotoks Oilers in preseason play.
    Coach Kevin Hasselberg says he likes what he is seeing.
    “It is a great group of players,” he said. “There is a lot of potential and room to grow as players. We are excited to coach this group.  We are going to go through some tough times and we are going to go through some good times.”
    So far he is impressed with the work ethic.
    “There are elements we have to develop, you are not going to replace players like Brett Edwards or Bradley Stonnell and Jordan Taupert in one season,” he said. “You are going to have to rely on first-year players to improve, obviously the recruiting class we have coming in we have high expectations for.”
    “It is never predictable, all you can do is come in and put in an honest day’s work and I think that is what we like the most about this group. When it is time to work they come prepared to do so and I think we will grow as a team because of it.”
    Game time for the home opener, sponsored by TELUS is 7:30 p.m. There is a guaranteed 50/50 pot of $4,000.
    Prior to the game,  there will be a tailgate barbecue in support of the Drumheller Sea Cadets from  6-7 p.m.


Terrapins top Airdrie in season opener

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The Drumheller Peewee Terrapins started the season out on the right foot winning their opener over Airdrie on the road.
    The Terrapins were facing Airdrie for the first time and on Saturday, September 7. They come out strong and by half time were leading by two touchdowns, Airdrie came back and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, making it a close game. The Terrapins pulled together a 32-20 win.
    “Our guys never got down, they scored a couple more,” said coach Paul Redmond. “They played a pretty good game.”
    He said Airdrie has a tough team posing a challenge for the Terrapins.
    “On defense, I like to shut down their running game and the sweep and force them to do things they don’t practice as much like passing, but Airdrie had a pretty good quarterback and one kid that could catch so they gave us a tough game,” said Redmond.
    He says this season because of low registration numbers, the Terrapins are playing nine-man. In fact, half of their league is doing the same with teams in Drumheller, Airdrie, Innisfail, Rocky Mountain House and Sylvan Lake playing nine per side.
    Coach Redmond says this allows the players more opportunities on the field than the traditional 12 player game, and also allows better coaching. He adds that Football may begin to mandate playing either 6-man or 9-man at the younger levels.
     “It is more developmental and safer,” said Redmond. “What I found with nine-man is I can do way more teaching. We are finding we have more time to show these kids what to do. With our limited numbers, it helps us out a bit.”
    The Terrapins are back on the field this Saturday, September 14 versus Sylvan Lake for their home opener. Game time is 11 a.m.

Drumheller Titans shut out Olds in season opener

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The Titans attacked in the air and on the ground in their home opener.
    The DVSS field was a hive of activity Thursday, August 28 with a doubleheader. Teams from Wetaskiwin and Brooks hit the field, followed by the Senior Titans in their season debut against Olds.
    This was also the Titans first league game and they were strong from start to finish, walking off the field with a 47-0 win.
    “I think for the first time in a long time we had more passing touchdowns than we had running,” said head coach Ken Fournier. “Our quarterback Ethan Jones had four passing touchdowns and two he ran in himself. He had a heck of a game.
    He said Jones had about 300 yards passing and Chase Sattler has 200 yards receiving. Braden Mazereeuw also had a big game. Coach Fournier says they want a balanced approach to their offense.
    “We committed ourselves to distributing the ball sideline to sideline and the guys bought into that and they seem to really be enjoying the system,” said Fournier. “It has been a lot of work and the guys seem to be really diligent in learning how to accomplish that, and working hard on developing the skills to do that.”
    This gives them the option to distribute the ball to five or six players rather than just one or two.
    Coach Fournier said that Olds had a solid attack running and throwing, but the Titans’ defense stood tall.
    “We just didn’t allow the big plays to happen,’ said Fournier. “We had a few new guys on the defensive line who played really well.”
    The Titans are still looking for a few players to fill out their roster. Last Thursday they were missing a few players who are committed to the program and also brought up a couple of Bantam players to fill the bench. Potential players can come from Drumheller or surrounding communities.  To learn more check out www.drumhellerfootball.com


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