In theory, it could have been an ugly turn of events for the Caronport Cougars in their home opener against the Central Butte Bulldogs on Thursday evening.
And while the Cougars weren’t able to find the win column they still put together an impressive effort on their way to a 38-34 loss to a perennial provincial championship contender.
“It was a really entertaining game, a great one for the fans,” said Cougars coach Ken Guenter. “I think both teams had about 300, 400 yards of offence and it was really back and forth. Just a fun football game.”
The Cougars came into the contest after what Guenter called a terrible week of practice, one punctuated by injuries that left the Cougars a touch shorthanded in positions heading into the game.
“After the big win (41-6 over Southey in their league debut) we weren’t focussed at all,” Guenter said. “It was such an emotional win and we were just flat after it. So we had two days of serious practice but we just weren’t ready.”
It showed in the opening half, beginning when Central Butte took the opening kick off deep in their own end and marched the length of the field for the game’s first major.
“It was just short passes and they picked us apart,” Guenter said. “For most of the first half we really had trouble with them, but we finally started to shut them down a bit toward the end of the half and turned things around.”
It was a really entertaining game, a great one for the fans. - Caronport Cougars coach Ken Guenter.
For more, see Friday's Times-Herald.
