Lakers 37 Lightning 10
The Sylvan Lake Lakers had an extra week to prepare for the Central Alberta High School Football League final against the Hunting Hills Lightning and they made the most of it.
The Lakers, who had a bye in the league’s final weekend, put together a near perfect game plan, and they executed it to perfection, as they downed the Lightning 37-10 at Great Chief Park Saturday afternoon.
“We were polished,” said Lakers head coach Jeremy Braitenback. “The week off helped us. Some believe the extra time will hurt, but our guys wanted this more than anything.”
That showed in their offensive execution as they used a multiple attack on the ground and in the air. And when they did make a mistake, things came up roses for them.
That was evident late in the first quarter when Lakers quarterback Chase Hoffman’s pass was deflected and landed in the arms of receiver Bud Kriekle.
Two plays later Tyler Ledwos went 39 yards off the left side to make the score 13-0. Alistair Smith kicked his second of five converts.
The only real bright spot for the Lightning came on the final play of the first quarter when quarterback Scott Pearson hit Shane Gasser on a 64-yard pass and run play. Gasser kicked the convert and later added a 32-yard field goal to make the score 14-10.
“When we got off to the quick start it definitely relaxed everyone, but at the same time we let up a bit, which we shouldn’t have,” said Hoffman. “Still we came back from that.”
The first time the two hooked up this season, the Lightning recorded a 44-20 victory and took advantage of every Sylvan Lake miscue.
“The last time when they made a big play it deflated us,” said Braitenback. “But the guys put it in their minds not to let it bother them and it showed today.”
“That first game woke us up,” said Hoffman. “After that we practised harder and it showed. I think we were thinking we were invincible and after the loss we went out and worked that much harder.
“We did add a couple of plays, but basically we went with the same stuff we used against them the first time.”
“They did the same things they did the first time and the same things we prepared for,” said Lightning head coach Kyle Sedgwick.
“But the game came down to execution and we didn’t execute. Our offensive line didn’t play well. Maybe it was the pressure or just the way the day went, but we didn’t make the plays. What can you do but give them credit. They played hard and wanted it more, unfortunately.”
The Lakers used six different running back, but outstanding back Brad Huhnold did most of the damage. He opened the scoring on a 57-yard run at 4:55 of the first quarter and finished with 168 yards on 17 carries.
Overall the Lakers rushed for 285 yards and passed for 150. The Lightning managed 153 yards in the air and only 83 on the ground.
Their ground attack was hurt when Mark Beingessner went down with a leg injury on his third carry of the game.
“In high school football you’re not that deep and when you get injuries they’re tough to recover from, especially when we lost the heart and soul of our team (Beingessner),” said Sedgwick. “When he was injured you could see it deflate the team.”
Still the Lightning were in the game, but when Pearson went down with a head injury early in the third quarter, that seemed to spell the end for the Lightning.
They couldn’t generate a lot of offence after that while the Lakers continued to pull away. Nathan Tarling scored on a two-yard run at 9:18 of the third quarter while Shon Zenert went in from the four at 2:21 and Kriekle scored from the one at 11:11 to cap the scoring.
The Lakers also got a safety late in the second quarter.
Ledwos grabbed seven passes for 108 yards while Ryan Myles grabbed five passes for 78 yards for the Lightning. Tim Pratt carried the ball four times for 44 yards for LTCHS.
The Lakers not only won the league, but the Central Alberta Tier II title and will host St. Mary’s of Calgary on Saturday. Stettler will compete in the Tier III playoffs, visiting Cold Lake, while the Rocky Mountain House Rebels host Holy Rosary of Lloydminster in Tier IV action.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com