Lessons learned during the course of a winless season paid off well for the Westlock Thunderbirds last weekend as the last place team in the league took its place in the spotlight, defeating the Wainwright Commandos 39-6 in their first playoff game of the year.
Minutes after the team left the field following its Oct. 19 win in Wainwright, head coach Jon Kramer was overwhelmed with pride for his high school football team, who dominated on the field for the first time in their 0-6 Wheatland Football League season.
“We were hot tonight,” said Kramer. “It was pretty special to watch them.
“Surprising isn’t the word I want to use, we’ve seen it in them, but we’re so proud of them to see it come together, they were just physical today, in the right place at the right time, they made their tackles. It just all came together.”
The Commandos headed into the postseason with a 1-5 record with their only win coming against the Thunderbirds Sept. 20 in Wainwright by a score of 44-12.
Kramer said the team had been studying and watching a lot of tape on their Wainwright rivals and felt they knew where they went wrong in the previous tilt, it was just a matter of making it a reality on the field, and they did just that.
“It was such a transformation that it’s hard to know what to talk about. Everybody on the team was a player today and they were just dominate,” he said, adding the team also racked up four interceptions, including one that resulted in a return touchdown. They’re pretty fired up. It was a pretty good day for them.”
Days like these are the reason someone gets into coaching, said Kramer.
“That’s the fun of coaching. The kids learn a lot about the meaningful things in life, and that they don’t come easy. You’ve got to grind and you’ve got to work for it. Even if we would have lost this game, just seeing the progression has been so encouraging. Seeing them work hard and gain success is very satisfying,” said Kramer.
It was technically the second win in as many weeks for the Thunderbirds, who visited Olds Oct. 11 for an exhibition game outside of the WFL schedule, a game they also dominated.
“Just playing a game that you know you’re going to be competitive in and then just putting some points up, probably helped turn the tide, but I think a lot of this has just been in the well waiting to come up for the last few weeks and this was just the opportunity where we got those final adjustments to the offense and the defence to really make it happen,” said Kramer.
With the taste of victory still on their lips, the Thunderbirds will hop the bus to Cold Lake to take on the Royals in their last game of the year Oct. 25, the tier final.
The Thunderbirds were forced to forfeit their scheduled Sept. 27 game in Cold Lake due to illness, but are now looking forward to taking their newfound winning ways into Cold Lake for the final.
WFL playoffs are broken down into two divisions with the top four teams playing in their own bracket with the bottom three teams, which the Thunderbirds are a part of, playing in their own bracket for their own title.
The Royals finished their season with a 2-4 record with their wins coming against Wainwright along with the Westlock forfeit. That record was good enough to earn the team a bye into the lower division finals, where they will now tangle with the Thunderbirds.
“They have a bit of a different look with a couple of real all-star athletes that we’ll have to contain, but it’s still fun to be in the dance for the boys and to have one more week of football,” said Kramer.
”We’re proud of the boys and it’s an honour to coach them and to see all the hard work they put in. It’s just fun to see the joy they have after the win.”
