The Westlock Thunderbirds improved to 2-0 on the year following a 32-8 Friday-night drubbing of the Vegreville Vortex.
The football club, in its sixth year of operation, has never opened any of their previous Wheatland Football League campaigns 2-0, making this the best start yet and one coach Jon Kramer hopes to continue.
“It was real close for the first bit, but we wore them down. It was a really physical game, especially for the offensive line and the defensive line,” he said.
“Our guys did a good job of wearing them down, but that’s something we’ve got to keep working at and working at because each team gets better each week.”
Heading into the second quarter the Thunderbirds were down 8-6. The team had to claw its way back to gain the lead, said Kramer.
The difficulty in the first quarter was a result of the Vortex stopping plays that the Thunderbirds had used in their first game against the Athabasca Pacers.
“We did a few different things on offence. We passed the ball a little bit more than we did in the first week so we made adjustments, but the players picked up on it pretty well,” Kramer said. “They practiced hard this last week and it showed.”
Passing made a big difference in this game, since in the season opener, the team only completed a single pass. This week’s game saw quarterback Brett Snell complete seven of 10 passes. A major turning point in the game was a 22-yard pass from Snell to wide receiver Eric Hardinge.
“It got us a touchdown when the pressure was on. That was big,” he said.
One player was also able to make his triumphant return to the team after suffering a concussion earlier in the season. Running back Jason Moerman had eight carries for a total of 84 yards and scored his first career touchdown.
Having a player suffer a concussion is not something the coaching staff take lightly. Last year, a concussion specialist from Edmonton came in to education staff and players on concussions.
“We’re doing much better at learning how to assess it. Ten years ago even, in football, a guy would get his bell rung and the coach would just give him a pep talk and put him back out. But we’ve got really strict protocol now,” Kramer said.
Players like Moerman have to be cleared by a doctor before they are allowed to return to the field, he said, noting that once players are in shape and learn how to take and make hits, the concussion rate decreases.
The team’s current roster has about 39 players, which gives the Thunderbirds an advantage over some of the other teams in the WFL, where some have as little as 20.
“Football’s a long game and you get tired as the game goes on, so we’ve got to do a better job of playing as hard in the first quarter as you do in the fourth quarter,” he said.
“Usually, if you can do that, you win games.”
Another advantage for the team is that kids are now coming in with some experience.
“We’ve had a lot of players join up in just their Grade 12 year, but we’re starting to get more Grade 9s joining the team, so by the time they’re in Grade 12, they’ve played for four years, which helps us a lot,” Kramer said.
Another possibility is getting players from the Barrhead bantam and pee wee programs designed for Grade 7 to 9 students. Having these kids on the team, who have had three years of experience, will give the team more time to perfect plays and less time teaching fundamentals.
The squad now faces the Vermilion Marauders on Friday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. at the Westlock Elementary School field.
Vermilion is also 2-0 this season and will be the Thunderbirds toughest test yet.
“It’ll be our toughest game to date for this season, but they guys keep improving each week. It’s hard to judge how good teams are in the first two weeks, because you’re still doing a lot of preparation, learning new things and so we’ve got a really young team in a lot of ways but we know we can do better this week coming up,” Kramer said. “The guys think they have a good chance.”
