Lions Shine under Friday Night Lights

Photo Credit: Game Ready Photography 

With the newly erected lights shinning bright, the St. Paul Lions laid everything out on the field Friday evening as they defeated local rivals the Bonnyville Voyageurs, 28-7.

The game started hot for the Lions with a big interception. The team continued to amp up their plays throughout the game, never letting up in the 60 minutes of action.

“Our team had everything firing today,” Head Coach, Mark Tichkowsky, was impressed with the players commitment on the field. “We had a big crowd under the lights, our boys were pumped to play.”

It was a 14-0 game at the halftime mark. Where some other clubs may begin to feel confident and let off a little, the Lions continued to roar.

“It’s always come down to winning the second half. They came out and made some big plays on offense and defense,” the coach explained.

The Lions knew that they had to keep at full-strength and not to underestimate the Voyageurs.

“Defense really stepped it up and offense, we finally got both our passing and running game going today,” said Tichkowsky.

Head Coach of the Bonnyville Voyageurs, Larry Godzuik, said the team never recovered from a flat start.”Right off the bat, we had a poor series. An interception that lead to a touchdown. We were in the hole to start with.”

The Voyageurs attribute some of their flatness to injuries, the coach explained, “we’re missing three of our starting O-Men (offensive players).” The Voyageurs hope to have their starting quarterback, Silas Fagnan back in the line-up for next week.

Both clubs already looking towards the post-season and where these crucial last couple games will land them in the standings.

With a 3-2 record the Lions are strategizing for playoffs.

“We needed this win,” explained the coach, “we knew we didn’t want to meet Comp in the first round of the playoffs.” The Lloydminister team has traditionally been a strong competitor, undefeated so far in the season. The Lloyd team beat the Lions earlier in the year 38-0.

“Our goal is to finish third and we hope to make some noise in the playoffs.”

If you’re a fan of the Wheatland football league, then you know the Lions have had a heated rivalry against the Cold Lake Royals for many years. The two clubs will meet at Soholt Field in Cold Lake for a Thursday afternoon game. Kick off 4:00 pm.

The Bonnyville Voyageurs are on the road Thursday to meet Lloyd Comp at Armstrong Field.

Bandits steal a 46-7 win over Bengals

Photo Credit: Game Ready Photography

Photo Credit: Game Ready Photography

The action between St. Paul and Bonnyville didn’t stop on Friday. The two towns met again Saturday afternoon, this time it was the Bantam teams. Played out in Bonnyville, the Bandits took a 46-7 win over the Bengals.

“Our kids really came out together,” Bandits coach, Mickey Fagnan said the team was syncing well Saturday afternoon on Walsh Field. “There was a real cohesiveness there.”

One issue the Bandits have been struggling with this year is penalties. Coach Fagnan said he was pleased with the cleanness of the game.

“Energy really carried the game for us,” stated Fagnan.

Head Coach Todd Tanasichuk, of the Bengals, said the score was a tough one to digest. “We were hoping to play them tougher, that’s for sure.” Attributing the loss to giving up some big plays, “a situation where you start by making a mistake and it all starts to unravel.” A predicament many football teams have found themselves in before.

The coach was happy the club walked away with seven points on the board, scoring right near the end of the game.

With two games left in the second, the Bengals are in third place in the league. They will take to the road next weekend against Lloydminister.

The Bandits will enjoy a by-week and hit the field the following Saturday in Wainwright.