The journey of the Strathmore High School Spartans football team has been one of development.  Losing a lot of leadership with the graduation of their quarterback, the team has been relying on some of the strengths that they were not normally accustomed to which was a huge learning curve, but one that the team was willing to take head-on. 

The addition of some talented juniors on the defensive line brought a new level of play and allowed the running game to develop.

Losing some games initially was translated into a catalyst for the new success that they built after each trial.  Recently losing to Holy Cross Academy last Thursday was actually a valuable lesson for the team.  The HCA has a very strong physical presence on the field, and one that they used to their advantage in the last game.  Head Coach for the Spartans Travis Gorski talked about the level of play they were up against.

"They had quite a few athletes that were quite a bit stronger than our boys, who played on the Team Alberta, Team Canada team.  So they had quite a few athletes that have already played at that next level," he said. "One thing that they are good at is the physicality of the game, and so they had a really strong presence, and they were able to make sure that they were in the right position at the right time.   They are very well-coached and the intensity that they were able to bring to each and every play was something that our boys were not able to match."

It's time to clean the slate and bounce back for the Spartans.  Playing that high caliber team gives them real-life experience in that high level of play as HCA will probably be the team they face again in the finals.  First, they will have to play Foothills Composite High School in the semi-finals this Friday in Okotoks.  They did lose the last game they played against them 22 to 8, but that was before the team had a chance to grow as a unit.  Gorski talked about the changes to the line up that they hope will work.

"We are starting a senior Grade 10 this year.  He started last weekend, just to get a little bit of a taste of it, but he has been looking really great in practices.  He is a great leader and I think he is going to make a huge difference back there.  One of the big things that we are going to emphasize is running the ball.  We haven't been able to run the ball very well, but we have made a few small adjustments, and it has been working really well.  We are going to try and emphasize the run, so then we can open up the passing game.  So give the defense a steady dose of run and pass."

After they leap this hurdle on Friday the experience of playing HCA will be invaluable to identify their weakness and put more effort into the Spartans winning strategy.