Comets spoil Titans' bid for another provincial title

It was David versus Goliath in the top tier of the 2022 Alberta Bowl.

On paper, anyway.

The perennial powerhouse Harry Ainlay Titans were seeking what would have been their third provincial title in a run of five consecutive appearances in the finals of the Brian Fryer Tier 1 high school football championship (reserved for schools with more than 1,249 students as well as smaller schools wishing to declare for the top level of play in the province).

But the Titans ran right into a Raymond Comets squad looking to re-establish itself at the top of the Alberta high school football scene.

With a population of 3,708 in the entire town of Raymond, located 34 km south of Lethbridge, the Comets came up against a big-city school with a student body 2,846 strong.

But that didn't stop them from jumping to a quick 28-0 lead over the Titans at Calgary's Shouldice Park on Saturday.

In the end, a 34-15 victory captured Raymond's first football pennant since earning three in a row from 2008-10.

But the small-town champs can hardly be considered underdogs.

“Anybody that knows the story of provincial football or basketball in Alberta would have heard of Raymond,” said Titans head coach Tyler Greenslade. “And that's a credit to so many fantastic coaches and players that they've developed over the years. It is a really unique story. I was talking to my dad about it and he was kind of saying, `What tier should they be in based off of school population?'

“Obviously, they do get some players from other schools, just like we do. And I think what's so impressive is it's not like they have a string of players come through and then they take 10 years off (of being competitive). They are constantly developing and they're always competitive.”

The defending provincial champions from 2019, following a two-year hiatus due to COVID -19, the Titans opened the season three months ago with a 25-15 victory over Raymond.

FINALS ROUNDUP

The Spruce Grove Panthers captured their first provincial pennant by defeating the All Saints Legends 38-37 in the Larry Wilson (Regional) Tier 1 championship Saturday ... The No. 1-ranked Holy Trinity Academy Knights posted 57 straight points in a 57-14 win over No. 3 Austin O'brien Crusaders to capture their second Tier 2 title in the last three seasons ... After coming up short in the last six straight Tier 3 championship games, the No. 1-ranked

Holy Rosary Raiders from Lloydminster blanked the No. 6 Strathmore Spartans 44-0 ...

The Drumheller Titans punted through the end zone to decide their 22-21 win over the St. Paul Lions in a tightly contested

Tier 4 championship game.