So much for a perfect season.
Despite leading 34-21 at half time, the Westlock Thunderbirds football team saw their hopes of an undefeated season end with a 48-34 loss to the visiting Athabasca Pacers on Sept. 20.
“You’d like to win them all,” said coach Jon Kramer after the game. “It’s a long season. We have to keep that in mind.”
As a coach with many years of experience, Kramer said he could tell near the end of the first half that the T-Birds would have their work cut out for them if they wanted to come away with the win.
“We were at our best until right near the end of the first half,” he said. “I knew we weren’t in good enough shape to play four full quarters against Athabasca.”
Kramer said it was general slowness on the T-Birds’ part that led to the defeat, and not like the Pacers outplayed their hosts.
As the game went on, players were calling to sub off more often, and Pacer plays that should have been only three or four yards were turning into seven- or eight-yard plays.
“They weren’t putting wrinkles in our game; it was their speed and conditioning,” Kramer said.
Midway through the second quarter, the T-Birds had jumped out to a 20-7 lead.
As the clock ticked down on the first half, a veritable shootout broke out on the field, as the teams exchanged touchdowns, eventually taking the score to 34-21 for Westlock at the half.
It took until the third quarter was nearly over for anyone to score, when the Pacers scored to climb within six at 34-28.
Another Pacers touchdown, combined with an unsuccessful two-point convert, made it 34-34 with 9:17 to play.
With only 1:45 left on the clock, the Pacers took the lead with another unconverted touchdown, going up 40-34.
Finally, Athabasca put the finishing touches on the comeback, scoring a touchdown with a successful two-point convert to cap off the 48-34 win.
Although it was disappointing to see the lead slip away, Kramer said there isn’t much the T-Birds would change, other than their conditioning, when preparing for their rematch with Athabasca on Oct. 10 on the road.
He also acknowledged the two teams could very likely meet in the playoffs, so if the T-Birds work on their conditioning, he’s “very confident” the tables will be turned at the end of the year.
Regardless of the end result, Kramer said the game was a lot more exciting and had more drama than the T-Birds’ first two games. He also was happy to see such a large crowd come out for the team’s final night game of the year.
In the meantime, Kramer said the team will reload and prepare to host Vermilion at home on Sept. 27. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 5 p.m.
