The Westlock Thunderbirds’ hopes for Wheatland Football League Tier 2 title are over, but they did not go down without a fight.
Pitted against the Athabasca Pacers — a team they had struggled against all season — the Thunderbirds played a seesaw match on Saturday in Athabasca that was full of big plays and sudden, unexpected comebacks.
And although the T-Birds lost 34-30, head coach Jon Kramer said it was a high point not only for the team, but the entire program.
“That was our best game to date, and maybe even as a football club, the highest point we’ve reached as far as competitiveness and focus and execution. So I’m very pleased with how the year went,” he said.
Saturday’s away game marked the second league playoff match for the Thunderbirds after they beat Vermilion 42-14 on Oct. 19.
Kramer said the T-Birds had put in a lot of extra work prior to the match to be ready and they were feeling fairly confident.
“We knew there was some things we had to address going into the finals,” he said. “But we knew by the quality of the players and the effort (we put in) that we had a championship team.”
The match started in much the same way as the 42-0 loss dealt to Westlock two weeks prior, with the Pacers gaining a sizeable lead in the first half with two quick touchdowns.
To their credit, the Thunderbirds didn’t let the Pacers’ 14-0 lead end the game, Kramer indicated.
“I’m really proud of the way the guys played. We were down two early and it didn’t seem to phase the team or the coaches,” he said.
“Mental toughness is a difficult thing even for adults to grasp, let alone high schoolers ... A lot of pro teams even, when they’re down 14-0, they kind of fold.”
Westlock finally got on the scoreboard when Kash McCotter caught a long pass from Brett Snell and ran 80 yards for their first touchdown.
Kramer said it looked as though McCotter might get caught ,but “he turned on the jets and ran it in for big touchdown.”
“That was a big turning point as a team to see a guy who has been working hard for a lot of years just give that little extra bit,” he said.
Joe Borris scored the next touchdown on a six-yard run, putting the score at 14-12.
However, the Pacers managed to score one more touchdown to put some distance between them and the Thunderbirds, leaving the score at 20-12 at the end of the first half.
Snell and then Josh Dittmer scored two touchdowns to put the T-Birds ahead 24-20.
Athabasca then shot back with another touchdown to regain a small 26-24 lead, but Borris ran in a 45-yard touchdown to put the T-Birds up to 30-26.
Alas, victory was not in the cards for the Thunderbirds, as the Pacers managed one final touchdown and a two-point conversion with two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The T-Birds drove all the way down to the Pacers’ 30-yard line, but couldn’t just score another touchdown.
“When you end on a loss, it’s always a sour note, whether it’s a championship game or just a regular playoff game.
“As a team, it’s always a tough way to finish off.”
With that in mind, Kramer said this was a really memorable and special year.
“As a team, we really grew in leaps and bounds,” said the coach.
“In the past, we were in some ways just a group of people who played football games ... But we’ve really grown into a program this year, by the effort that players and coaches and the executive have put in.”
