Spirits at the Columbia Valley Bighorns home game on Sept. 28 were still high considering another loss on home turf, this time to the Springbank Phoenix.

The home team put up a united front against the opposing team, pulling off great plays throughout the game, but it didn’t pull together in the end for the boys, who went down 27-7.

Captain Stefan Trudel was the lead scorer, making a great catch for the touch down, but it was lineman Bunyan Harris who stole the spotlight of the game.

“Harris was by far our best linesman of the game. He played great all game and he played his heart out. He was the best on the team by a long shot,” head coach Bruce Marlow said.

Even so, Marlow said he was very happy with how the entire team played.

“I’m very happy. They learnt a lot of things today, and we had new guys in new positions,” he said. “The other team is a very good team. Three wins and three losses in their division. They’re a strong team and they are very well coached.”

Although he was still optimistic about the next game against the opposing team.

“We play them again in a couple of weeks and next time we will do a lot better,” he said.

The aim of the game was about more than just trying to win, it was also a chance for the players to establish a running game and try their hand at new formations, he said.

“The plan was to try out new plays and formations, but the kid’s weren’t ready for them,” he said.

“We wanted to play every player and we did which was great. It’s a good warm up for when we play Cranbrook.”

“We’re getting better every week,” he said. “We’re only a second year team, but come the end of the season at the Kootenay Bowl we’ll be great and we’ll win.”