The Colts Bantams lost their Tier 1 bid 38-0 to the Cowboys at Hellard Field on Saturday.  After an impressive opening drive which culminated in a Cowboy interception, the Colts offense struggled to get anything going against a determined Cowboys defence.

The Colts now drop to the Tier 2 playoffs along with the Bulldogs, Cyclones and Falcons.

The Falcons played an impressive game with the undefeated Mavericks and actually tied 48-48 before the game was protested by the Mavericks for the Falcons use of a two-way player.  The protest was upheld and the game will be officially recorded as a forfeit.

The Colts will now begin their Tier 2 quest against the Cyclones next Saturday at 9am at Hellard Field, Shouldice Park.

There really is nothing quite like a crisp, cold October morning at Shouldice Park.  The leaves turning on the hill, the field full of frosty dew, the warmth of that Tim’s cup in hand and of course, the anticipation of a football game.  That’s just how it was Saturday morning as the Okotoks Eagles faced off with the South Calgary Colts.  The Colts came out on top 14-8 in a defensive
battle which foreshadows a tight, edgy playoff-type game.  “These two teams match up real well right now” said Head Coach Terry Swanney.  “It
was a fun game to coach and I think the players share that sentiment”.

The Eagles opened up the scoring with a first possession touchdown staking them to an early 8-0 lead.  The Colts offense rallied and would even the score 8-8 on a Mason Johnson major and an Ernesto Flaviano two point convert.  That score would hold up until late in the second quarter when Colts quarterback Hunter Guenard threw a touchdown pass to Declan O’Flaherty, putting the Colts in front to stay 14-8 at the half.

“This was a great way for us to finish the regular season added Defensive Coordinator extraordinaire Greg Warnock. “We played a pretty physical game this week which was nice to see going into the playoffs. Once again, Nathan Monteith led the charge for us
causing several turnovers by his sheer will to make plays. We are going to need a complete team effort this week drawing the Cowboys in the first round. This is a very well coached and skilled team in all three phases”.

“It seems almost surreal the way this season blew by” lamented Coach Swanney.  “Its playoff time and now the real football begins”.

The Colts (6-2) open the 2011 playoffs next Saturday at 9am at Hellard Field versus the Cowboys (7-1).

Welcome back to the win
column.  After losing two in a row, the
Colts Bantams roared back with a 30-14 win over the Cochrane Lions at Encana
Field.  Mason Johnson capped off a fifty
yard drive with a touchdown run from the five and Nathan Monteith, continuing
his dominating play, picked off the Lions quarterback twice, romping 35 yards
for a score to put the Colts up 14-0 in the second quarter.

“Nathan is a presence on the
field” said Head Coach Terry Swanney, “he has to be accounted for or you are
taking your chances”.

The Lions would roar back and
tie the score 14-14 which would hold up into the fourth quarter.  “It was a nail-biter for sure” added Coach
Swanney “we were able to take over physically in the fourth and control the
line of scrimmage.  I don’t often mention
individuals on the o-line because we are a unit but Elliott Faller really
distinguished himself with a fine game blocking on the left side”.

Second half touchdowns by Wyatt
Wright and Mason Johnson’s second of the day would prove the margin of victory.

“We challenged the defense to
prove that we believe in each other and our

systems after being exposed the past two weeks” said Defensive coordinator Greg
Warnock.

“The boys played sound physical
and technical defense. We missed two tackles to give the Lions

their only offensive score.  After that
play, I can only point to great,

inspired defensive play. We had 4 interceptions this afternoon….we asked

the boys to give our offensive the ball today and that’s exactly what they

did. Derek Mauceri played a great game with a key interception and he

returned two kick offs gaining us some good positive yards. Evan Savytskyy also
had a

great pick that he almost took to the house. Nathan Monteith was a beast

with some great hits.  It was a great day
to be a defensive coach.  Very proud
indeed”.

The Colts will now conclude
the 2011 regular season versus the Eagles next Saturday at 9am at Shouldice Park, Hellard Field.

The Colts Bantams dropped their second consecutive game 40-8 at Shouldice Park on Saturday bringing their season record to 4 wins and 2 losses.

“This game was a struggle from the opening gun” said Head Coach Terry Swanney.  “We were up against a big physical team and we really needed to get off  to a good start”.  The good start didn’t
happen and the Colts found themselves down 16-0 early in the game and just didn’t recover the rest of the way.

“There were still some real positives we can take from this game, first
and foremost is that for the first time in what seems like forever, we didn’t sustain any injuries” added Coach Swanney.  “We are already a M*A*S*H* unit and anymore would have been difficult to absorb.  We had to move some players around this week and those guys like Mason Johnson and Bennett Yardy did a nice job of playing in their new positions”.  Evan Savytskyy was newly inserted into the punt and kick return position and finished with some nice plays.

Unable to get untracked, the offense sputtered from the opening gun and that left the defense defending short fields and in some difficulty.

“There are still plenty of positives to take from this.  We will grow as a team, we will work hard this week to prepare for the Lions and we will come out swinging next week.  That’s how we roll”.

The Colts are now 4-2 and are tied for second place in the tough South division with the Bulldogs who were upset by the now 1-4 Eagles.

The middle part of the 2011 schedule promised to be a bear and delivered.  “Mid-season in Bantam is always a difficult
time, we were fortunate to get off to a good start and now we can concentrate on getting back to playing solid fundamental football and hopefully back to the win column” concluded Coach Swanney.

With the playoffs looming, that would be a good game plan.

Next game for the Colts (4-2) is Saturday 11am vs Cochrane Lions (2-4), Shouldice Park Encana Field.

Sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the nail.  The Bantam Colts were certainly the latter on another blistering hot day at Shouldice Park.  The Bulldogs scored on their first offensive play and it was all Bulldogs after that as the Colts could not seem to get untracked.

“Today’s game was a wake-up call for a lot of guys on this team” said Head Coach Terry Swanney.  “Many of the players were not ready mentally to play the game.  We talked all week about the importance of being mentally prepared; obviously it fell on deaf ears”.

“My hat is off to Bulldogs coach Art Marche” continued Coach Swanney, “he has a very talented team, well-coached and disciplined.  He has my respect for how he conducted this game.  The final score flattered us”.

Liam Hoban started his first game at wide-out and distinguished himself with some very aggressive blocks and some key receptions.  He left the game in the fourth quarter with a broken hand and will be out four weeks.

“I loved the game of our Quarterback Hunter Guenard” added Coach Swanney.  “He made some great plays under some very difficult circumstances.  His poise as a young quarterback is extraordinary”.

“Our defense was really over matched this afternoon” said Defensive Coordinator Greg Warnock. “I want to give the Bulldogs credit for executing each and every play as we certainly did not match their performance. Although I am disappointed in the day’s results, we will always find the positives for us to move forward to our next opponent. I thought that three players in particular gave a heroic effort all the way through the game, Ernesto Flaviano, Josh Wice and Mason Johnson employed a
never-say-die attitude. We are going to face another elite team this week so we will need to put this game behind us and forge ahead. I know we will put forth a better effort this week”.

The Colts (4-1) next play the Stampeders (3-1-1) at Shouldice Park, Hellard Field at 11am next Saturday.

On a beautiful morning at Shouldice, the Colts prevailed
over the Cyclones 16-14 to extend their win streak to four games and capture
first place in the tough South division at the mid-way point of the
season.  Shawn Gladun scampered in from the
20 yard line on the Colts second offensive play of the game to stake the Colts
to an early 8-0 lead which would hold up as an 8-6 lead at halftime.  The Colts scored early in the second half as
well on a 1-yard plunge by Wyatt Wright which was set up by a beautiful 30 yard
pass from Hunter Guenard to Jonathon Hacock and the 16-8 lead would hold up as
an eventual 16-14 final score.

Tailback Shawn Gladun, who leads the team in scoring with 9
TDs in the first half of the season went down with an undisclosed ailment after
his early score and was transported to Children’s Hospital by ambulance for
tests.  His status is listed as
day-to-day.

“After Shawn went down, the offence scrambled to come up
with a plan B for the game” said Head Coach Terry Swanney.  “Shawn is an integral part of our team and
his level of play all year has been off the charts.  There is no replacing him so all we could do
is ask the others to step in and step up” continued Coach, “Nathan MacDonald
and Wyatt Wright bore the load for us today and were absolutely
magnificent.  Hunter Guenard continued to
play with poise and did not commit the big mistake which can cost you in a game
this close.  I was not surprised to see
Jonathon Hacock make that big play either, that kids got game”.

“Defensively we came up against a very physical offensive
line this week and they came to play” added Defensive Coordinator Greg Warnock,
“we had a good game plan again this week as we knew exactly what they were
going to throw at us. We played tough for most of the game, allowing some yards
but then stopping them when needed. Mental mistakes continue to be our Achilles
heel. When we have breakdowns, our opponents are capitalizing. We gave up two
scores today on our own mistakes. They executed and we did not. Having a tough
test was a good thing for us as we are going into a hornet’s nest this week
against a team scoring more than 40 points per game. We are going to need to
eliminate the mistakes in order to get the results that we expect from ourselves”.

The game Coach Warnock alludes to is the first place
showdown with the Bulldogs (3-1) at Shouldice next Saturday at 1pm.

The Bantam Colts held their annual Train-A-Thon fundraiser
on Monday night and by all accounts it was a smashing success.  “The kids worked hard to raise the funds”
said Terry Swanney Head Coach, “Our philosophy is for the kids to go out and
raise the money for the team, we do our very best to ensure the Colts Bantam
Football Program is affordable for everybody and as a parent I can tell you I’d
rather the kids be working for it than to have to be cutting a seemingly endless
string of cheques”.

For those not familiar with the format, the Bantam Colts
players go out and secure pledges then run through a gamut of training
exercises all set up by our volunteer parents.

“Wayne Workun and Sean Hoban were awesome with this”, added Coach,
“They really ran the kids through their paces and scheming to have those
Calgary Outriders show up was really the icing on the cake.  Wherever the girls were, the boys seemed to
be working extra hard”.

The grand total for the only fundraiser the Bantam Colts run
all year was $7400.00.

The monies will be used for such items as trophies, photos, a
pizza night (important), wind-up banquet, and general operating expenses such
as field rentals, medical kits, signage, and SWAG for the kids and coaches.

Special thanks to all the parents that helped out with the
BBQ and came out to cheer the boys on.
Many hands make these events enjoyable for everyone.

On a blistering hot day at Shouldice, the Colts rolled to
their third consecutive victory

30-0 over the Wildcats.
The Colts defence proved the key to the victory.  Playing tenacious almost frenzied football,
the defence kept the Wildcats offence at bay with timely big hits and constant
pressure on the Wildcats QB.

“All I can say is that defence was incredible”, said Head
Coach Terry Swanney.

“As a unit they were determined to handcuff the Wildcat
offence and were extremely aggressive.
It was incredibly hot on the field, but that was nothing compared to the
heat our front seven put on their opponents today”.

Defensive Coordinator Greg Warnock was pleased with his
units’ play, “We had a simple game plan that the
boys bought into and delivered without flaw.

We had great up front pressure today highlighted by several sacks from Justin
Burton. Kaden Workun delivered several crushing tackles creating a few
turnovers. My favorite moment was Nathan Monteith’s interception for a
touchdown. He was where he was supposed to be and he made a great play. All of
our defensive coaches were very pleased this week. Now we need to get focussed
for a new week of work”.

“Offensively we struggled from
the opening gun”, added Coach Swanney.
“We just never seemed to gain any traction, but our o-line was key, they
kept working hard and we were able to score just enough to win.  We certainly will require a better
performance next week and beyond”.

Sean Gladun scored two TDs in
the second quarter as the Colts held a 16-0 half-time lead.  They added to that with a TD toss from Hunter
Guenard to Nathan MacDonald and an electrifying 50 yard “pick 6” by Nathan
Monteith.

“Nathan is adapting well to the
Canadian game, how’s that for an under statement?” grinned Coach Swanney.  Monteith jammed his neck on a tackle with 3:56 to go in the fourth quarter but his after examination at
the hospital it was determined there was no serious injury.  That sound you hear is a huge sigh of relief
from the entire Colts family.

Next up for the Colts (3-0) is
the Cyclones (1-2) at Shouldice Hellard Field next Saturday a  11am.

The Bantam Colts will play an exhibition game against the Lindsay Thurber raiders from Red Deer.  Wednesday Sept 14th at 6pm on Hellard Field at Shouldice Park.