Lethbridge Bulldogs edge Bantam Mustangs in season opener

2013 Bantam Mustangs
C. Davis photo

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Pincher Creek's Bantam Mustangs had their home opener on Saturday afternoon, September 7, hosting the Lethbridge Bulls at Matthew Halton field. One touchdown separated the teams in terms of points at the end, with the Bulldogs winning it 34-28.

The game was a bit late in starting, as the referees hadn't arrived yet by the scheduled kickoff time of 1:00 pm.  Apparently there is a shortage of refs for the southern Alberta area, and most of the refs were working up to 5 games over the course of the weekend.  When a game went past the scheduled time elsewhere it delayed the start of the Pincher Creek game.


Former Mustangs player Riley Sokownin was wearing #26 for the Bulldogs, which made for some interesting moments during the course of the game.  His dad Dennis Sokownin coached Mustangs football for many years,  and was there to cheer his son on against kids he's coached - a little awkward but understandable.

Bulldogs #23 Jordan Elder
S. Ludwig photo

The Mustangs kicked to the Bulldogs for the first play of the day, and were off to an immediately rocky start when Bulldogs #23 Jordan Elder snagged the ball and went for a long seemingly effortless stroll up the west side of the field for a touchdown, putting hte bulldogs ahead 6-0 in the first minute of play.

Mustangs #41 Tyler Riviere on the way to a touchdown
S. Ludwig photos

Shortly after at about the 3:30 mark of the quarter Mustangs  #41 Tyler Riviere evened it up with a touchdown of his own, albeit one he had to work harder for. To him goes the cred of the first Bantam Mustangs points of the season.  A successful conversion and the Mustangs were ahead 8-6 until Jordan Elder repeated his earlier feat with an other long run from the Bulldogs' 25th yard line (approximately) for another virtually uncontested touchdown, bringing the score to 8-12.  Successful conversion for the Bulldogs, 14-8.

Tyler Riviere vs Darian Booysen
S. Ludwig photo

Then it was Bulldogs #33 Darian Booysen's turn to leave everyone in the dust, scoring another long-run touchdown for his team and bringing the score to 20-8. That's where it stood at the half.

Shay Robertson, center, preparing to throw
S. Ludwig photo

Mustangs #1 Shay Robertson lifted the spirits of Mustangs and fans alike with a nice touchdown in the declining minutes of the third quarter, bringing it to 20-14, still in the Bulldogs' favor but still anybody's game.

Mustangs 31 Shay Robertson
S. Ludwig photo

Jordan Hochstein with the ball

Then early in the fourth quarter Booysen repeated his earlier feat, carrying the ball from about the 55 yard line all the way to touchdown, 26-14 Bulldogs.  About a minute later Tyler Riviere brought it all the way to about the 15 yard line before being stopped, which ultimately led to a touchdown a couple of minutes after that, following it with a field goal, and it was now 26-21 for the Bulldogs with 7:20 left in the game, and still anybody's game.

Then Booysen did it again... a long run with little companionship followed by a successful conversion, and the Bulldogs wer ahead 34-21 with 3:22 left to play.  The Mustangs pushed back hard, driving it up the field inch by inch, and with 30 seconds left Mustangs #38 Hayden Varley got it over the line, a successful field goal, and game over with the Bulldogs ahead by only 6 points, 34-28.

Hayden Varley on his way to final touchdown of the game
S. Ludwig photo

The Bulldogs appeared to be a very disciplined team.  Both teams were certainly evenly matched, and the game was a thriller, the last minute before the half taking 15 minutes or so aside...

The Mustangs are a fairly established team this season, with seasoned Bantam players predominating their lineup, with a few graduated Pee Wees and a couple of players brand new to the game this season.  The Bulldogs are rumoured to have 18 new Bantam players in their lineup this season.

"We're pretty stinking excited with how these boys performed," said Mustangs head Coach Travis Liscombe.  "It was a back and forth game.  Other than some blown coverage in our initial  kickoff of the game, we were there."

"These guys battled hard, everybody hung in there, guys persevered through injuries, they were great."

"Once again every time the game seemed to beat us back, they guys were able to turn it back around, and dig deep.  We even knocked in a couple field goals"

"We had one of the smallest guys on the team make just a massive tackle," said Coach Liscombe.

In terms of improving the team's performance h said "Special teams are something we are really going to have to work on,  and our tackling at the senior and bantam levels." To that end Todd Merrick and Alex Oliver are working with the team once a week on special teams specifically.

2013 Bantam Mustangs:

1 Shay Robertson
6 Jordan Hochstein
11 Beau Walter
14 Jesse Saultier
18 Tyson Malhi
20 Tristan Liscombe
22 Brenden Lissel
30 Craig Oliver
38 Hayden Varley
41 Tyler Riviere
42 Shane Parker
44 Trenan Shortreed
48 T.J. Metcalfe
50 John Walker
54 Jaeger Hann
55 Austin Bruder
60 Elliot Nemeth
63 Thane Buckingham
64 Noah Assoon
65 Colton Teneycke
67 Connor McLeod
81 Vincent Sayer

Head Coach: Travis Liscombe
Coaching Staff; Stan Walker, Alex Oliver, Jaime Kiffiak