Cobras rise striking atom Hawks

    In a battle of the top minor football atom teams the Cobras edge the Hawks, 20-18

    Sunday, October 8, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

LONDON, ON. - This time the snake got the best of the bird.

Two early touchdowns carried the Cobras to a 20-18 edging of the St. Thomas Hawks, in London Minor Football Association atom action, at City Wide Fields.

It is the first loss for the Hawks after opening the season at 4-0. Now the Hawks and Cobras are tied for first place at 4-1-0, two points up on the Red Storm (2-0-2).

"It came down to some extra points," Hawks' head coach Andrew Walker said. "It's tough. You try for it (points after touchdown), because it's two (points) and it changes the game. If we made three, we're up (four points)."

The Cobras entered the game with their heads up, eyeing the high flying Hawks, a team which had scored 72 points over their first four games.

"We didn't play well in the first quarter. They capitalized with two quick scores,' Walker said. "From the second quarter on we played a great football game.

"The O-line was firing off of the ball and the defence was swarming. Our quarterback (Kolton Bergeron) threw a real good football and the kids caught the ball well. The running backs finished their runs hard today and that was impressive seeing those."

Thanks to a pair of touchdowns by Kaden Noel, the Cobras led 14-0 into the second quarter.

The Hawks found the end zone 1:14 before half-time, on a QB keeper.

Nicolas Faulds put the Cobras up 20-6 in the third quarter.

The Hawks doubled their score in the fourth quarter, on a nine yard TD run by Dawson Ritchie. After a missed two-point convert attempt, the Cobras held a 20-12 advantage.

The Cobras only had the ball for two plays, before Hawks' Joshua Laning forced a fumble that Cole Surmacz recovered.

Six plays later Ritchie ran into the end zone for his second major of the game. The Hawks couldn't tie the game, missing on a two-point convert attempt.

The TD strike came after the Hawks thought they had scored one play earlier, only to have the Kolton Bergeron TD wiped out by a penalty.

Down to the final minute of the fourth quarter, the Hawks still had an opportunity to win, with the ball mid field. The Cobras were fourth down and 12 yards, but made a first down, allowing them to kill the clock.

Behind their success so far this season is pretty simple.

"They're (players) close together," Walker said. "They joke, they laugh together. They try hard for each other and they give each other everything that got every snap."

St. Thomas takes on the third place Red Storm next game before having a bye week heading into the playoffs.

The St. Thomas tykes (21-7) and peewees (21-8), both won their games versus the Cobras.