GOTW AB: CFC25 No. 3 Cochrane Cobras take on the CFC50 No. 20 Raymond Comets at home

The CFC25 No. 3 Cochrane Cobras will be looking to best the CFC50 No. 20 Raymond Comets in Alberta on Friday. The Cobras are no stranger to taking on high level opponents as shown in their bold move of playing against CFC50 No. 2 St. Francis Browns in 2018. They did alright, albeit they didn’t get the win, but the heart is there. Raymond is a tough, gritty team and is also no stranger to putting themselves out there. This is a game you won’t want to miss.

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Head coach of the Cobras, Robbie McNab mentioned that the message this week is a simple one; “We need to match the speed and intensity that the Raymond program is noted for.  They always have great athletes that have a great football IQ. We are looking forward to see how our team will react to Raymond football.”

The Comets are going in with a 1-3 non-conference record. At first glance, you may think that this game may not be notable. But let’s see just who those non-conference teams have been; CFC50 former No. 3 Harry Ainlay, CFC50 No. 8 Notre Dame (CGY), and CFC50 No. 2 St. Francis (CGY). They beat Harry Ainlay 21-10, an early upset and one that many of us would not have predicted.

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The Comets are always a tough, disciplined, and gritty team to play against. And don’t even think about playing them on home turf, that is one electric environment. However, this is just what the Cobras will have to do – win on the road, on their home turf. Coach McNab isn’t worried and says that both teams play a similar style of play.

“The match up will show us as similar in stature and style of play.  Both programs enjoy throwing the ball around and utilize many different athletes.  But we don’t always get to play against this type of athletic team.”

The Cobras are a Tier 3 team while the Comets are Tier 1 in the Alberta standings according to school population. Cochrane was recently ranked No. 3 on the new CFC25 National Small School Rankings. Going into this game with a 3-0 record, they haven’t quite been tested to their fullest and many of their starters routinely sit the second half due to the lopsided scores. Week 1, 78-0, week 2, 47-7, and week 3, 51-0 are what they have produced so far.

You can understand why then, quarterback CFC100 Xavier Vaillancourt is looking forward to this game.

I am most looking forward to having the opportunity to go out and shock a lot of people. I believe we have the talent and demeanour to beat Raymond and I really hope we do. It would be great for our program to be recognized as not only one of the best teams in division three but one of the best in the province,” he said when we reached out to him for his opinion on this upcoming game. 

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Xavier goes on to mention that they won’t do anything different to prepare for Raymond as they have done for the past 3 games. “Our practice plan doesn’t change throughout the year. We prepare the same for Chestermere as we do for Raymond. I think the way we’ve become accustomed to preparing this way is going to help us for such a good team. Of course the intensity is going to be up this week and it’s going to be awesome,” he said. 

Moving the ball and playing Cobra football is what they will have to do to get the win on this day.

“We need to move the ball and give our defense some rest. As long as they keep us in the game which I know they will I think we have a great chance to win,” Xavier explained. “We’ve done a great job spreading the ball around to all of our backs and we’re gonna have to keep doing that.”

Vaillancourt, one of the participants in the 2019 CFC Prospect Game that was broadcast on TSN this past June, says he can’t wait to show everyone the strength of his team this year. “It’s gonna be a great game.”

Kickoff is Thursday the 19th at 7:00pm at Raymond.

*Raymond could not be reached at media time.

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