The Edwin Parr Composite School Pacers football team were out-battled by the Wainwright Commandos Sept. 15 during an away game 52-15, again with a seriously short roster.
Pacers head coach Pete Burden said there were some bright spots in the game, but overall the team did not play as well as they had in their first league game the week before.
“The majority did really well. Unfortunately, we did have a couple guys when the score started getting down that started giving up on some plays, and that’s one thing we can’t do,” Burden said.
He said the first few minutes of the game were a back-and-forth between the teams.
After the Pacers kicked the ball to the Commandos, they took it all the way to the end zone. When the Pacers received the ball back with a kick, they then landed a touchdown.
It went back and forth again until the score was 14-14, and Burden said he thought it would “be a good day.”
“Then the wheels kind of came off,” he said. “It just slowly started going.”
Burden added Wainwright turned to a hurry-up style offense, which really tired out the Pacers.
Rylee Buchanan and Nathaniel Borys each got a touchdown for the Pacers, and Jaron Millar kicked two converts.
Near the end of the game, Burden said Cameron Gilmore went down, complaining of a hurt neck. Gilmore was taken to the hospital, where he was examined and then sent home that night.
Gilmore will not be playing this Friday’s game, but should be ready to play after that.
Burden said if the Pacers do not get more players soon, the football program could be cancelled for good.
“It’s been a pretty sleepless weekend for myself,” he said. “I’ve been in it a long time, and the look on these kids face, to have to look them in the face and tell them they can’t play anymore, that’s a pretty tough decision. It won’t be made lightly at all. We’re holding off until the very last minute with it.”
Burden said the players all want to keep playing, but unless the team gets some more numbers it is a safety risk to continue playing.
“Maybe there will be some miracle this week in Athabasca, and I’m going to go to practice tomorrow and all these kids are going to show up,” Burden said.
