The 2017 season for the Wynyard Golden Bears was scratched to a close by the visiting Cougars from Dalmeny.

George Lamb Field was the site of a 2A provincial quarterfinal battle between the undefeated Bears and the 6-1 Cougars.

Going into the contest, the Bears were dealt a tough hand as starting middle linebacker and leading tackler Tristan Bergquist would not be available for the contest after failing concussion protocol.

The speedster also played tailback and was the deep man on special teams. 

Wynyard opened the game on offence scoring on their first possession. Quarterback Rylan Sokul rumbled for 40 yards on the first play from scrimmage to get the ball into the red zone. Four plays later he ran a sweep from ten yards out to open the game’s scoring.

The Cougars would answer with a balanced nine play offensive drive mixing the pass with the run efficiently. Thomas Neudorf would get his first major of the game on a 15 yard pass from Bailey Tisdel. 

After Dalmeny had taken the lead, a 20 yard pass and run to Ryan Tarry was followed by a 40 yard scamper by Sokul for his second major of the quarter, bringing the first quarter to a close with the game tied 16-16.

Wynyard would break the knot when Sokul found a wide open Carson Fisher on a well-executed end screen. Fisher would scamper thirty yards to glory giving the hometown crew a 24-16 lead.

The Cougars, however, pulled a rabbit out of the hat, tricking the Bears D on a third down gamble that sent Neudorf free for a huge game-tying run on a simple hitch pattern. The game went into the halftime break all even at 24.

To start the second half, the Cougars would once again convert a huge third and long gamble on a huge fifteen yard catch inside the Bears five yard line.

Tisdel would pound the ball over the goalline two attempts later to give the visitors the lead and the momentum. On the ensuing kickoff, a squib kick was knocked out of bounds by Dalmeny, giving the ball right back to the Cougars offence.

Dalmeny converted on their second straight offensive possession to take a 38-24 lead.

Wynyard would answer immediately with a well executed nine play drive. Sokul would sneak around the right corner for a five yard touchdown and after his conversion the Bears were down 38-32.

Following a turnover late in the third quarter, Wynyard tied the game again to begin the fourth on another Sokul touchdown.

That sparked a back and forth offensive battle between the two teams with a total of six touchdowns throughout the game's final 11 minutes.

Dalmeny scored four of the six touchdowns to get away with a 68-52 win to advance to the semifinal.

They will travel to Wakaw to take on the Warriors on Saturday. The other 2A semifinal sees Clavet visit Rosthern.

With contributions from Morris Sokul.