The Central Alberta Buccaneers routed the Calgary Wolfpack 60-12 Saturday night in Alberta Football League play at ME Global Athletic Park.
The Bucs improved to 5-2 with the victory.
On the first play of the game from scrimmage the Bucs opened up their aerial assault on the Wolfpack and didn’t relent until the final whistle.
Judah Knip threw four touchdowns in the first half and kept the ball moving for the home side without an interception. He connected with his go-to targets Jesse McPhail and Axsivier Lawrence each twice in the opening two quarters.
The Bucs led 36-6 at halftime.
“There was a few miscues but for the most part Judah looked great out there too. Our o-line was playing excellent. It’s just the little things that add up,” said McPhail, who also serves as one of the team’s offensive coordinators.
Knip then started the second half with an interception but followed quickly on the next possession connecting with Tanner Olstad for another TD.
After fullback Ian Keetch ran in for a score, Tyler Johanneson added his second interception of the night. He was also five-for-five on field goals.
Despite the offensive performance and the dominance on the scoreboard, McPhail believes the team has a lot of work left to do when they square off against the top teams in the league.
“I think we have a lot of work to do. We had a slow week at practice. I think some of the guys need to get their head in the game,” McPhail added.
“The bye week and coming in and out of the games it’s playing with guys and we sat back a little bit and we weren’t expecting them to come firing out on all cylinders and we didn’t. We did curb that in the second half but we were put on our heels a little bit. The boys needed a bit of a talking to.”
The Bucs will play their next game on the road against the St. Albert Stars before they host a playoff game on Aug. 12 at ME Global Field in Lacombe.
“It’s going to be a battle. Last game of the season. We’re in someone else’s house. We had a pretty big battle with them last year in the playoffs. I’m excited for it,” McPahil said.