The Westlock Thunderbirds aren’t letting their early season record get them down and are excited to be playing at home for Friday Night Lights Sept. 28, said head coach Jon Kramer.
The Thunderbirds’ Wheatland Football League season record fell to 0-4 as the squad dropped a 35-6 decision Sept. 22 to the Bonnyville Voyageurs in Bonnyville.
“It was good. It was another loss, but the guys played extremely well. We were really tight right up until the last few minutes of the second quarter and then we just ran out of gas,” said Kramer.
“After the first quarter we were blank at 0-0, which was huge for us. We gave up a really easy drive in the second quarter and they were up 7-0, but then we forced a turnover and marched down the field and scored a touchdown, but failed on the two-point convert, so we were basically two yards away from leading at one point.”
The Thunderbirds threw for 129 passing yards and forced four turnovers, with two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a punt the Bonnyville team couldn’t make which resulted in a sack.
“We made some big plays, then we had the four turnovers on defense. Those are big game-changers in a competitive game, so leaps were definitely made this week against a really good team,” said Kramer.
The first half of the season has been tough as the Thunderbirds have been punching above their weight class, playing against very competitive and successful teams. Kramer said he expects his team to be much more competitive against Cold Lake and Wainwright the week after, as they are at about the same competition level.
“Our guys are expecting to transition out of just counting plays to starting to win football games,” he said, adding everyone has been looking forward and is excited for their first home game of the year.
Kick-off is at 7 p.m. at the Westlock Elementary School field, but the afternoon will be filled with family-friendly activities meant to draw a big hometown crowd to cheer on the boys.
R.F. Staples will be holding a pep rally at 2:30 p.m. that afternoon in the main gym and CONEX will be putting on a digital scavenger hunt for the kids as well as a face-painting booth, starting around 5 p.m.
“We’re kind of excited. This is kind of our big one on the calendar and we’re going to make the most of it, so we encourage people to come out and cheer on the players,” said Kramer.
