LACOMBE — It took 12 years but the Central Alberta Buccaneers finally got the best of the Calgary Wolfpack.
“We finally got that monkey off our back,” said Buccaneers head coach Duane Brown, following a 34-28 victory over the Wolfpack in a highly entertaining Alberta Football League contest at ME Global Athletic Park Saturday.
“This was fantastic for the organization, especially mentally. We know we have a good team, but I think mentally this was a huge victory, as we just couldn’t beat them.”
Bucs quarterback Byron Stearns agreed.
“This was something else for the organization. I’ve only been here a few years, but I know the rivalry. The Wolfpack played great, but we brought our A game and pulled it out . . . it feels good.”
The win gave the Bucs a 3-1 record with two league games remaining — Saturday at 6 p.m. at home against St. Albert and July 20 in Grande Prairie.
“We’re clearly in the drivers seat when it comes to our destiny and the playoffs,” said Brown. “This was a great effort, and one we needed.”
The loss dropped the Wolfpack to 2-3. The Calgary Gators sit on top of the league.
The Wolfpack didn’t make things easy on the Buccaneers, but in the end the defence pulled together to stop the potent Calgary offence, led by outstanding quarterback Darryl Leason, three times in the final two minutes.
“We believe we have the top defence in the league and they’ve been stepping up all season and while we got them some points today, they held us in at the end,” said Stearns.
“All three aspects of the team came together today,” said Brown. “Everyone came to play, which is fantastic for a coach to see.”
The team’s offence was missing the week before as they lost 13-4 to the Gators.
“We struggled last week with some dropped passes, so we took it upon ourselves to get better this week,” said Stearns. “There wasn’t dropped passes and our O line was tremendous. I can’t say enough about them. I had time and time and time to sit back in the pocket. It’s easy to sit back there and make reads with that much time.”
Stearns connected on 22 of 34 passes for 287 yards and four touchdowns. Former Sylvan Lake Laker quarterback Matt Merkley was outstanding on the outside, grabbing nine passes for 135 yards. While he didn’t record a touchdown he set up the first major with a 71-yard pass and run play to the one.
Two plays later Stearns hit running back Jamie Blinkhorn on a two-yard pass for a touchdown to tie the score 7-7.
“He (Merkley) made a lot of huge catches for us, but then we got a huge effort from a lot of our younger guys,” said Brown. “Corbin Knip was outstanding on special teams, as were several of the other kids on both sides of the ball.
“When we moved to Lacombe from Red Deer we made a concentrated effort to get the younger kids as they’ll be the future of this team for years to come.”
Lindsay Thurber grad Greg Fowler made one of the best defensive plays, knocking down a pass inside his own 10 yard line late in the game, that helped kill a potential winning drive by the Wolfpack.
The Wolfpack led 7-0 early as they scored the first time they touched the ball as running back Sean Ahronson went in from the one. But after the Buccaneers tied it they took the lead for good at 14:12 of the second quarter on a 15-yard pass from Stearns to fullback Dylan Vanier. The Bucs added a 27-yard field goal by Tylor Johnson on the final play of the half and led 17-7.
The Wolfpack made it 17-14 on a 19-yard pass from Leason to Matt Squires at 2:23 of the third quarter, but Stearns connected with Blinkhorn on a five-yard touchdown pass at 7:40 and then found Corey Pusey on a four-yard strike at 14:27.
In the fourth quarter the Wolfpack sandwiched a pair of majors from Ahronson — one on a 13-yard pass from Leason and the second on a four-yard run — around a 19-yard field goal by Johnson.
Blinkhorn finished the game with 106 yards rushing on 19 carries while Vanier had 23 on seven tries.
“They did a great job of taking some pressure off the passing game,” said Stearns. “I’m not one to sit back and throw 50 times, I need that running game and again our O line was fantastic. They opened up some great holes.”
Leason hit on 25 of 45 passes for 312 yards.