Playing in what some may call classic football weather, the Athabasca Pacers handed the Vegreville Vortex a 42-22 defeat last Friday.
With their home field at Edwin Parr Composite covered in snow thanks to an early snowstorm that kept up throughout the game, the Pacers were faced with unique conditions but nevertheless came out on top with a win that secured them second place in their division.
According to head coach Pete Burden, playing football in the snow wasn’t all that unusual for the team.
“Last year was the first year we hadn’t played in snow, so some of the boys had been through it before.”
As a result, they knew they had to change some elements of their game thanks to the wintry conditions.
“You definitely can’t pass as much. We had to alter our offense a little bit. We went for more of a misdirection-style offense,” explained the coach.
Playing against a weaker Vegreville team, the Pacers had no trouble getting out to a decisive lead early in the game. From there, it was a matter of keeping the game relatively close to avoid blowing out the visiting team, while also resting some veterans in advance of this Saturday’s playoff game against R.F. Staples.
But as the final game of the regular season for the Pacers, it was also a showcase for the graduating seniors, so they were given a fair amount of field time as well as special recognition at the end of the game.
The defense was filled with rookies getting some of their first game action in, however.
“It was fun for them and it made the game a little more interesting,” said Burden.
Braden Anderson led the way with three touchdowns while Mitchell Snow scored two and Brad Russell had one.
Snow led the team in rushing with 152 yards on five carries.
He was also near the top in pass receiving with 74 yards on two receptions.
That was eclipsed only by Anderson, who notched 79 yards on two receptions.
Randall Weber got the start at quarterback in place of first stringer Michael Pieroway, and he answered the call, passing for 186 yards with seven completions.
Cole Hamilton was the top tackler with four, followed by Brian Weymouth with two. Christian Brown notched an interception.
Once the game was over, the coach gathered the Pacers supportive home crowd and offered words of thanks and recognition to his group of departing seniors, including Brad Russell, Jeremy Major, Randall Weber, Braden Anderson, Cole Hamilton, Christian Brown and Jase Cermak.
“It’s nice to recognize them in front of their friends and family for everything they’ve done for the program.”
The graduating players will hope to ensure that Saturday’s game against Westlock isn’t their last, and to do that they’ll have to be ready for a team that’s coming off a big win over first-place Vermillion.
“We’ve had fairly good luck with them, but we know they’ve improved. They’ll be prepared to play and they’ll have some momentum on their side,” said the coach.
“We’ve got to come out, score early in the game and keep our offense rolling.”
The game will begin at EPC on Saturday at 1 p.m.
