The Mount Douglas Rams will have Western Conference offensive MVP Gavin Cobb back in the lineup for this afternoon鈥檚 sa国际传媒 High School Football鈥檚 triple-A quarter-final matchup against the visiting Kelowna Owls.
Cobb missed the last game of the Rams鈥� regular season due to a concussion, but was cleared to see action at 1 p.m. at Goudy Field in Langford.
The Rams will need the talented athlete, who has lined up at receiver, running back, quarterback and defensive back, against what should be a stubborn Owls team.
Mount Douglas silenced the Owls 57-0 in the playoffs last season, but Kelowna (4-2 this regular season) has come a long way since, hanging in against undefeated and No. 1-ranked Terry Fox (ultimately losing 27-13). The Owls also dropped a tough 14-7 result to a very capable St. Thomas More team that was 5-1 in the Eastern Conference.
鈥淚鈥檓 so excited to be back,鈥� Cobb said. 鈥淭he playoffs are a whole new season.鈥�
The No. 3 Rams finished the year at 5-1 in regular-season play, the only loss coming to Vancouver College. Mount Douglas is an experienced team and knows what it takes come the post-season.
鈥淚t was a dominant game last year [against Kelowna], but they鈥檙e a brand new club,鈥� Cobb said of the Owls. Kelowna is led by Parker Simson, who can hurt you with his arm or his legs. 鈥淲e need to get a hat on Parker every play 鈥� kind of like what [St. Thomas More] did. Hopefully, we make someone else, other than him, beat us.
鈥淭hey run the ball well and they have a big interior offensive line and defensive line,鈥� Cobb said. 鈥淲e have to make sure we stop the penetration from their big guy in the middle and we鈥檒l have to utilize our passing game, I think.鈥�
In the other quarter-finals, which kick off tomorrow at sa国际传媒 Place, it鈥檚 Notre Dame vs. Vancouver College, South Delta vs. Terry Fox and New Westminster vs. STM. The winners will advance to next week鈥檚 semi-finals. In Tier II varsity play, Spectrum will face Earl Marriot in one semi-final today at 3 p.m. while Eric Hamber tackles Howe Sound in the other at 5:30, with both games at Burnaby Lakes. The winners will meet next Friday at the same location.
Spectrum was just 1-3 this season, defeating winless Timberline 24-15 to grab the final playoff spot in the five-team league.
