42-0 Road Win for Lions over Veg

The St. Paul Lions continue to dominate Wheatland Football League

The Lions remain undefeated as they traveled to Vegreville on Friday to successfully take on the Vortex and bring home a 42-0 win. Don’t let the scoreboard fool you, says Head Coach of the Lions, Jon Lumby, St. Paul worked for that win.

“That was probably the best Vegreville team we’ve seen in a number of years,” explains the coach. “The score at half time was 14-0, we had a tough time against them, for quite a while. Our guys settled down and we ended up having some success. [The Vortex] had a big, strong D line, so we had a little trouble with them. Their quarterback was very quick at running, so we had a little trouble with him; but our defense did well.”

Coach Lumby says the squad was a little unlike themselves early in the game, “we fumbled the ball, several times, early in the game. Which, I was not happy about. I don’t know if our guys were not used to as much physicality, as what came our way or what. They kind of lost their minds for a little bit.” The second half brought a composed team out of the locker room, says coach, “they settled down quite a bit, which I was really happy to see.”

“We did a lot of things right, once we got going.” Coach Lumby says you can never underestimate a team, “once that wore off we were able to execute plays better.”

The Lions have an exhibition game this Friday at Clarke Stadium, in Edmonton, versus the Cold Lake Royals. “I’d say they’re our biggest rivals. We didn’t play them last year, but it’s always a real battle when we meet with Cold Lake, for sure. We’ve had a lot of great games against them.” Lumby has a lot of respect for the Cold Lake coach, “Kelly Johnson is an excellent coach and a really good guy. I’m really looking forward to the game.”

Although points won’t go towards to season, the Lions will prepare to battle by looking at game footage, “we’re going to take a long time doing that and really examining everybody’s play. Looking for mistakes, really. We’ll point out some good things too; but largely it’s about seeing what we’re doing wrong, so that we can fix it.”

The Lions have some former players who now play junior football, Trent and Ruben Johnson; both play with the UofA Huskies. The Huskies play immediately after the Lions – Royals game on Clarke Stadium so the current Lions’ roster will have an opportunity to cheer on the brothers, as they take on the Wildcats.

September 24th is a special day of football in St. Paul, formerly “Friday Night Lights” the games will be played out on a Saturday, so there may be some name changes necessary. More details on this event will be posted shortly.