The Lacombe Rams came into their matchup under the Friday night lights looking to grab their first win of the season against a talented Notre Dame Cougar squad.
The game, which was the Rams second regular season game was one where Lacombe desperately needed a confidence boost after dropping their first two preseason games and their opener last week against the Lindsay Thurber Raiders 44-8 at Setters Place Field in Red Deer.
The first half would shine light on the Rams fortunes beginning with a 8-yard throw by Quarterback Mitch Simmons to stand-out slotback Richard Jans, leading to a 6-0 lead.
The rest of the half would see the Rams have several cracks at the endzone, including an extended run that was ended on a difficult shoveled pass by Simmons that was picked off by the Cougar defence.
After a safety for both the Cougars and the Rams, the score would be 8-2 Lacombe heading into the second half.
It would take the entire third quarter until Lacombe was finally able to extend their lead after veteran Simon Gray made an amazing 14-yard catch to put his team up 15-2 heading into the final quarter.
The Cougars would finally manage the find the endzone early in the fourth quarter when Luc Lukalu — who transferred from Hunting Hills this season — ran 63-yards for the score, cutting into the Ram lead 15-8.
The Cougars would follow that up with a dynamite chance to tie or take the lead after Guelor Kaongo picked off a Simmons pass to give Notre Dame the ball with six minutes to play, but the Cougars would quickly throw a pick of their own.
The Cougars would go to win 15-8, ending their three week drought.
“We are ecstatic,” Jans said. “We really needed it and it is good with Hunting coming up in two weeks.”
Jans credited the win to the Ram defence.
“It came down to our defence playing as strong as we could, making all the hustle plays and playing as team,” he said.
Rams coach Brian Ross said the Rams defence stacks up against anyone in the league.
“The problem is we have to use so many of them offensively, so they get a little tired. But they are stellar,” he said.
He added it was nice to get the monkey of their backs.
“It was good to see as many kids get into the game as we got in and a win is a win,” he said.
Lacombe will now square off against the Hunting Hills Lightning in two weeks.
Ross said they aren’t looking to much at their record due to the way the league is run.
“The weird thing about the league is that everyone makes the playoffs,” Ross said. “Whether you finish 1st or 4th — it simply means whether you are hosting or not.”