The Athabasca Pacers football team wrapped up one of their best seasons ever on Saturday.
Having fulfilled their goal of winning the Wheatland Football League’s Tier Two championship the weekend before, the Pacers were on to the league’s consolation final against the Bonnyville Voyageurs last weekend.
There the season finally reached its end with a hard-fought 44-38 loss to the home team.
The Pacers started slow in the game, falling behind by a score of 29-6 in the first half. The prolific size of the Voyageurs had something to do with that, according to head coach Pete Burden.
“They’re just a huge team. We probably give away about 60 pounds on our line play,” noted the coach.
Conditions were also not favorable, as the wintry weather created an icy field that hamstrung the Pacers’ run-and-gun offense.
And as a Tier One team, Bonnyville was dealing from a position of strength, as they were flush with young players with lots of football experience.
All of those factors combined may have accounted for the Pacers skittish start to the game, during which the coach felt his team was a little on edge and simply not having fun.
So at half time, the talk in the dressing room was of going out and enjoying themselves on the field again.
“In the second half, we came out relaxed and played with some emotion. We just had fun and played football.”
The result was impressive.
In the second half, the Pacers dominated the play, scoring 32 points and coming close to overtaking Bonnyville.
“Our offensive line was just fantastic. How we were able to run as much as we did, as outsized as we were … it was phenomenal,” said the coach.
Though they fell short of making the comeback, the local boys and their coach weren’t too disappointed.
“We’re still Tier Two champions. We did what we wanted to do,” said Burden. “Playing the crossover game is a great experience for the boys. The effort was great. They fought right to the end.”
It was literally the end for a handful of the Pacers, who will graduate this year. All of them got plenty of playing time in their final high school football game, and it was an emotional experience for all.
“It’s tough when you realize you’re never going to do it again,” said the coach.
But the Pacers, graduating and returning, still have some fun ahead of them in the form of this Thursday night’s team windup. The players, coaches and parents will play a friendly game of touch football at Edwin Parr Composite at 4 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m.
After that, the team will go their separate ways for the winter, but a number of them will be back on the field next year.
“We’ll have some big holes to fill, but I think there’s some young guys that should be able to step in.”
