The Westlock Thunderbirds Football Club battled hard down the gridiron but it was the Wainwright Commandos who claimed a 28-6 on Friday Night Lights Sept. 22 at the Westlock Elementary School field.
“We’d like to see a bit more out, but we’re happy we could drive down the field,” said head coach Jon Kramer. “It wasn’t one, two plays and we’re punting. We had a few drives and then it was penalties or one or two mistakes that we didn’t get the yards we needed. We’re pretty confident that the next time we play these guys, we’ll be able to probably beat them or make it a close game at least.”
Despite the loss, the T-birds stayed in the game and drove down the field, securing a six-point TD in the third quarter.
The Commandos came out late in the first quarter with the first touch down and a second TD in the second quarter.
Fatigue started to hit the T-birds in the second half and the game started to get away from them. Wainwright fielded another seven points in the third, and again in the final quarter for a 28-6 finish.
Kramer said it was a close game, but the T-birds will have to improve their conditioning and also work on skilling and drilling before the next game.
“We need to improve our technique because we are a young football team,” he said. “We had a lot of guys playing both sides of the ball, offence and defence, so you just can’t do that for that long, and you also need to get in better shape.”
Some of it is also polishing it up and preparing for the unpredictability of a game he said, especially for the younger guys who are facing a steep learning for only their third game of the season.
“Like any bell curve, as we work our way up, we should keep seeing better football every week,” he said.
The Thunderbirds have a bye this week as a third team, the Athabasca Pacers, dropped out of the Wheatland Football League due to a shortage of players, leaving three teams left. The week after, the squad head to St. Paul Oct. 5.
As last Friday’s game was the annual Friday Night Lights, the club recognized T-bird volunteers Chuck Keller, Jack Adkins, and Barrhead’s Summer Boysen — whose two sons and a daughter players for the club — with long-time service awards.
Pembina Hills Public Schools also recognized teacher and football volunteer Jerry Buchko.
“We’re real thankful to the community for putting this on and all the fans coming out,” Kramer said. “It just makes it special.”
