Mustangs update

Bantam Mustangs vs Lethbridge Bulldogs

Senior Mustangs win exhibition squeaker vs McCoy

Bulldogs defeat Bantam Mustangs

Okanagan Sun tops in BCFC regular season

Weather woes for Peewee Mustangs

Mustangs raise funds for Drumheller football

Senior Mustangs win exhibition squeaker against McCoy Colts

Pincher Creek's Senior Mustangs travelled to Medicine Hat on Friday October 3 to take on the McCoy Colts for an exhibition game. The Mustangs emerged victorious with a one-point win.

"It was an interesting game," said Mustangs Head Coach Wayne Alexander during half time at the Saturday Bantams home game, which he attended as a spectator. "This year hasn't gone the way we'd have hoped. We've got talented athletes, we've got a system in place, we have a coaching staff that's gelling. Everything is just on the cusp of..."

"So we are waiting for this break out game. We travel to Medicine Hat and play McCoy from the Rangeland Conference, we are up 2 - 0 at the half on a safety, we are close to scoring a touchdown, they hold us on the goal line stand. It ended up that we tackled them when they were trying to get out of their own end, in the end zone for the two (Mustangs) points. We go into the second half, we score a touchdown on a wide sweep to David Shortreed." Shortreed took it "for about 60, 65 yards, around the right end. He's got great speed."

According to Coach Alexander, at halftime the strategy emphasized was to get Shortreed outside. "We had been trying to run inside. He got out there and turned it up. It was a great run. A little while later, we score another touchdown (in the third quarter) so we're up 15 - 0, and that's how we ended the third quarter."

Being that far ahead with one quarter remaining, the Mustangs decided to spread the playing time around. "Fourth quarter we wanted everybody to play, it's an exhibition game, we substituted to make sure we got everybody on, on defense in particular," explained Coach Alexander. "In hindsight, we should have waited just a little bit. Now it's 15 - 6, they (McCoy) go for a 2 point convert, and they are 15 - 8. That means they are just a touchdown and a convert away from tying it. We control the ball, we run the ball, we are running down the clock, everything is going great, except that there's about two minutes left when they get the ball back."

 
"They march a bit, but get three penalties that also ruins another 15 yards, twice. They get down to our five yard line on the last play of the game. So it's 15 - 8 on the last play of the game, they put it in. Now it's 15 - 14."

"They have an option of going for a single point, which ties it at 15, or two points, and they opt for two points to win it. So what we did is stop them at both the 1.5 and 2 yard line, and win by one point."

"It was a nail-biter, and the boys are extremely happy. I was happy not only for the team, the coaching staff, but the community of Pincher Creek. We have been trying really hard this year, and our record is 2 wins, 3 losses."

For Coach Alexander the game was also a chance to revisit his own past. "I was the person in charge, from a football standpoint, of the Methanex Bowl, which is the football stadium there, a $250,000 field. It was in the process of being built in 1999, when I was living in Medicine Hat. I was the President of Medicine Hat Tackle Football. To pay for it, I brought in the first University game ever, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Calgary Dinos. Then I brought in a Junior game, the Okanogan Sun and the Calgary Colts. Then the Football Canada Cup, so those three things helped to pay for the field. It would be nice to have a field like that now (in Pincher Creek). We are happy with what we have now, They (the Mustangs) like the change room, but to see and play in that facility... The change room was immaculate, a nicely lit field, bleachers, and now they have artificial turf, which is just under 2 million dollars to put in."

Coming up for the Senior Mustangs: "Next week we play in Taber, we are playing for rankings in playoffs, for tier four for Provincials. Right now it looks like Claresholm is the team that should probably finish on top. We have lost to Coaldale, so we are behind them now for second place, but if we beat Taber, who knows? The last game we play is the following Wednesday, we are in Calgary to play a team out of Cochrane called the Bow Valley Bobcats. We are playing them in Calgary at Hellard Field."

Bantam Mustangs vs Bulldogs

Pincher Creek's Bantam Mustangs hosted the Lethbridge Bulldogs at Matthew Halton field on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, October 4. The Bulldogs won the game by a significant margin. All was not gloomy for the Mustangs though, to a man they showed a lot of improvement over previous outings, perhaps benefitting from a week of serious practice. Mustang Liam Van Ee lit it up with a 30 yard field goal in the third quarter that put the Mustangs on the scoreboard, and Mustang T.J. Metcalfe's final quarter touchdown, which combined with some great tackling efforts earned him the team's MVP for the game.

That the Mustangs were still scuffling despite an insurmountable lead by the Bulldogs was nice to see. This is a building season for the Mustangs, and they're exhibiting the character required to take it to the next level. The Bulldogs proved to be canny competitors, playing wide much of the time but making it for them with some long-yardage plays and touchdowns.

A familiar face - former Mustangs coach Dennis Sokownin was a ref for Bantam game

Okanagan Sun tops in BCFC regular season

The BC Conference (BCFC) Okanagan Sun, which includes former Pincher Creek Mustangs Cord Delinte and Stephen Hochstein, have earned first place this season in the BCFC for the 18th time.   On Sunday October 5 they hosted and defeated the Kamloops Broncos 38-19 in the season finale Apple Bowl.

Peewee Mustangs snowed out

The Peewee Mustangs game against Claresholm scheduled for October 2 was unfortunately cancelled due to the heavy snowfall that occurred earlier in the day and the night before.

Mustangs raise funds for Drumheller football

Pincher Creek's Mustangs Football Club, with the help of numerous local businesses and sponsors,  we raised $788.65 for the Drumheller football organization by holding a silent auction. The Drumheller organization suffered a major setback when lockers for all three of their teams were broken into on September 22.  Offices, equipment, and locker rooms were vandalized.

Mustangs practicing last week: