The R.F. Staples T-Birds football team went down fighting, 17-7 to the Bonnyville Voyageurs under lights on Saturday night, .
After a scoreless first half, the T-Birds finally made it into the end zone and broke the tie in the third but were unable to hold off their opponents. The loss drops the club to 2-2 in Division ‘A’ of the Wheatland Football League.
“It was two teams that were very even through out the game,” said coach Jon Kramer.
“When it carried on late into the game we were up and it looked like we kind of had momentum but it was a big night for Bonnyville as a team.”
Despite a strong showing for most of the game the T-Birds couldn’t stop the Voyageurs. Spurred on by the home crowd Bonnyville went onto score two touchdowns and field goal to get over the T-Birds.
“They executed where we didn’t,” said Kramer. “Their team was just really motivated and threw a few new things at us and they executed what they tried.
“This week we kind of came up short against a very good opponent and they made us pay.”
During the scoreless first two quarters the T-Birds were able to make it to the red zone, but couldn’t get the job done.
“It’s a place where you really have to come away with points but they stopped us with either a turnover on downs or a fumble recovery,” Kramer said. “We had every opportunity to take the game but we just couldn’t convert when we needed to.”
Ultimately Kramer was positive about the loss and saw good things from the team despite the final result.
“We knew we could play at their level, it’s just we need to shore up some of that execution stuff, and it’s good news because it’s all solvable problems,” he said.
The club will now look to get into the win column and will face the Vermilion Marauders on Oct. 8 at home.
Currently the Thunderbirds are locked in a three-way tie for second in the division with identical 2-2 records. Kramer said a win over Vermilion will be huge for the club as the playoffs are quickly approaching.
“It’s kind of been our goal at this point in the season,” said Kramer. “We do need a bit of help from other teams but we’re still in a good spot to play championship side football into the playoffs and hopefully get that game.”
