Voyageurs Shut Out Thunderbirds Friday at Walsh Field

Voyageurs Win 53-0 at Home Opener

Preparation was the key to success on Friday evening, says Head Coach of the Bonnyville Voyageurs, Larry Godzuik. “We knew what they were going to do and we prepared for it. We spent a week to make sure and our defense did a pretty good job making sure they didn’t score.” The d-line proved to be very successful, shutting out the Westlock Thunderbirds with a final score of 53-0 in favour of the Voyageurs.

“We had really good success with our running game and our passing game,” Coach Godzuik says the squad is very versatile this season, “we were able to get a number of people involved on the statistic side, either catching the ball or carrying it.” There were a few stand outs from Friday’s match, says Godzuik, “Silas Fagnan had a good game at quarterback. Reid Skrypichayko, grade 12, had a really solid game leading the team. He’s come a long way, he’s one of our real leaders on the team. He knows the game, really well, but also does a great job at focusing guys and making them do their best. He takes that role, quite willingly, and does a really good job at it.”

This Saturday, the 17th, is a huge day for Bonnyville Amateur Football Association, The Scott MacDonald Memorial. “We play Holy Rosary, they’re a gold medalist two years ago and a silver medalist last year at Provincial High School Football. They’re currently ranked number two in the Province in tier III football. It’s going to be a real test of where we’re at. The last two games, we’ve been able to get lots of guys playing time and have them gain experience for this game coming up.”

Coach Godzuik says we’ll likely see a lot of the starters in Saturday’s game, “we have the talent to score point-for-point with them and we’re hoping we can put together a defensive plan, that’s strong enough to give us the ball back, when we need it. Hopefully, the score tips in our favour.”

“I try not to focus on what the other team has to offer. In any team sport, you can’t tell the other team to do anything, we work hard to try to influence what they try to do and what they’re successful in doing. What we do with our athletes is try to convince them to play within their skill level.” As Coach Godzuik explains there are times when faced with a team that is more skilled, whether that’s perceived or real, athletes can attempt to play at a higher level, “quite often when they get against a team that has a history of doing well, they go outside of what they’ve been taught and they go outside of their skill set and that actually puts us at a disadvantage.”

Like the game against Westlock, preparation is the key, says Godzuik. “We’re going to work really hard this week to make sure the guys that are good at touchdowns, are still good at touchdowns. The guys who are good at blocking are still good at blocking. The guys who are good at tackling are still good at tackling.”

There’s 12 guys on the field, one for everyone. As long as you take care of the guy in front of you, there really shouldn’t be a problem. – Larry Godzuik Head Coach Bonnyville Voyageurs

“When we play well, we can compete and we can definitely beat them.” The Scott MacDonald is Saturday, September 17th at Walsh Field. Click here for more details on the event.