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Central Alberta Buccaneers prepare for playoff matchup

They'll head to Airdrie on Saturday to take on the Irish
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The Central Alberta Buccaneers celebrate with teammate Dave Symons after he scored his first career AFL touchdown at MEGlobal Athletic Park earlier this season.

The Central Alberta Buccaneers are embracing the underdog role ahead of their playoff matchup with the Airdrie Irish this weekend.

After winning just one of their six regular season games in the Alberta Football League (AFL), the Buccaneers just barely made the postseason in fifth place.

They just finished ahead of the sixth-placed Peace Country Cowboys who had the same record, which earned them a date with the Irish on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Shouldice Park in Calgary.

Team chairperson and defensive lineman Paul Jensen said they’re looking forward to the challenge.

“Throughout the league, there’s not necessarily an expectation for us to win,” he said on Thursday.

“To go in as the underdogs with the mentality that anything other than a loss would surprise a lot of people is an exciting challenge for a lot of our guys.”

Central Alberta’s only win came in week one against the Calgary Wolfpack at the MEGlobal Athletic Park in Lacombe.

They went on to lose five straight games against the Irish, Edmonton Elite, Cold Lake Fighter Jets, Peace Country Cowboys, and the Calgary Gators.

The Irish on the other hand finished in fourth place with a 3-3 record defeating the Buccaneers 23-3 earlier in the season.

Jensen explained their recent bye week in the final seven days of the AFL season helped them return a few injured players.

This year they’ve struggled to keep players healthy and have had to make do with a short bench.

“We have a lot less returning than we had originally hoped for but still enough to make it better than it was,” he said.

“It’s going to be a fight. They’re a very well-balanced team that can run the ball well… so we’ll be looking to take that challenge head-on.

“We’re a little bit lower on the numbers roster so we’ll have to be prepared and in game shape to take them on.”

Despite their lack of success on the scoresheet, the Bucs feel like they’ve made plenty of strides as a team, especially with a young roster.

“We still do have a young group and they’ve been growing as not only AFL players but football players who are learning and understanding as things go,” he said.

“We’ve seen growth from our roster as a whole.”

If the Bucs do win they’ll play either the top-seeded Calgary Gators or the second-seeded Cold Lake Fighter Jets depending on how the matchup between the Edmonton Elite and Peace Country Cowboys goes.

“We’re in the playoffs now so we’re back to 0-0. Whatever ups and downs came in the regular season is over with and now we’re playing games that really matter,” Jensen said.

“All of those games did matter to get into playoffs but these are win and you're in or continue to lose type matchups. It’s a different mindset for sure.”