The football season came to an end for the Athabasca Pacers last Saturday with a playoff loss to Westlock by a score of 21-7.
The team traveled to Westlock for the game, the first of the playoffs for both squads. With the two teams having split a pair of games in the regular season, neither side seemed to have a distinct advantage over the other going into the rubber match.
The Pacers got out to an early 7-0 lead before Westlock got their offence working, and they scored their last touchdown late in what was a pretty close game, according to Athabasca head coach Pete Burden.
“We made a mistake and let the quarterback get outside for a touchdown, and there were some questionable penalties called against us that hurt us,” said the coach. “And the weather hurt us. We’re a passing team, but the wind was so bad we couldn’t pass very much. That made us one dimensional, and you can only run for so long.”
The Pacers proved earlier in the season that they could beat Westlock, but on this occasion a number of factors, including the home team’s impressive size, led to them falling short.
“Our effort was great, but we were up against a much bigger team. We couldn’t handle their size; they physically pushed us.”
It wasn’t quite the outcome that the coach or his players had in mind, but when looked at as a whole, the 2011 season can certainly be labeled a success.
“You have to remember that we had eight kids, a third of the team who had never played football before. (So) what we did was pretty phenomenal,” said Burden. “It might take them a while to get over the loss, but overall they should be pretty happy with the season.”
Though the season is over, the team isn’t finished quite yet. They’ll have one more video session before having a fun game of touch football with parents and Grade 8 athletes on Thursday. Then they’ll enjoy a potluck dinner and celebrate another season. Almost all of them are eligible to return next year, so they’ll have something to look forward to.
“Hopefully everyone comes back. We’ll regroup and keep on going.”
