Fighter Jets crush Irish 55-0 to win AFL title; national championship next

Fighter Jets will host national championship game on September 17. 

In the eyes of the Cold Lake Fighter Jets, it’s poetic justice for how their 2019 season ended.

Crowned champions of the Alberta Football League on Saturday night with a perfect 8-0 record in regular season and playoffs, the Fighter Jets left little doubt in spectator’s eyes by walloping the Airdrie Irish 55-0 in the penultimate league contest.

“It’s pretty surreal,” says general manager and free safety Damen Schaub. “I didn’t think we could put together something from as good as 2019, but we did it all by the book and it feels great. I can’t wait to host GTA here in a couple of weeks and have a bigger crowd,” he told Lakeland Connect after the victory.

Malik Richards scored a touchdown on wide receiver screen on the first play of scrimmage, one of three TD receptions on his night, and Cold Lake never looked back.

Besides one interception from quarterback Raishaun Provo in the endzone, it was a near perfect half of football, taking a 37-0 lead into the locker room, effectively ending the game.

The second half was played with run time, meaning the clock only stopped on timeouts.

The Irish struggled to generate any momentum, as the Fighter Jets dominated the line of scrimmage, allowing just two Irish first downs that weren’t aided by penalty in the game’s first two quarters.

“We just played hard and executed the game plan. And we did what we came here to do,” said left tackle Patrick Jones post-game.

Jones is one of several players recruited from Ontario to play in Cold Lake and is a key cog in the team’s punishing offensive line that has allowed the likes of Kelton Kouri and Jayden Rowe to get a head of steam before a defender can put a hand on them.

As fans can attest to, with the Fighter Jets bench right in front of the home bleachers, Jones is one of the more vocal players on the squad.

“What I bring to every team is energy. It’s a sport you can’t play at 50 per cent, you got to play at 100 miles an hour. And if nobody’s going to bring the energy, it’s going to be me, especially with the position that I play. It’s a very hard tough position…it starts with us up front,” said Jones.

Jones is just one of the talented pieces that Schaub has brought into the fold for this Fighter Jets team.

The 2019 team went 7-1 in the regular season, but before they were able to host the first postseason game, were found to have broken league bylaws by having a team member pay for flights for two players to come to the city.

Cold Lake was forced to forfeit the remainder of the season.

With that in the background, this year’s edition was vigilant about following the rules, and despite a challenge earlier this year that was found meritless by the league, Schaub says they’ve done everything by the book.

“We have football players. That’s what we got. All these guys came out here with a purpose to win a championship for Cold Lake and that’s what we’re doing. That’s what we did. Said it at the beginning of the season, 9-0 is the goal. Here we go,” he said.

What comes next is the quest for a CMFL championship.

The Fighter Jets will host the GTA All-Stars from the Northern Football Conference on Saturday, September 17 at 6:00pm at Thomas Varughese Field.

The All-Stars won their sixth straight league championship on Saturday with a 35-14 win over the Tri-City Outlaws.

The break of three weeks will allow the Fighter Jets an opportunity to rest and prepare while the All-Stars fundraise for the cross-country trip.