Even after a loss in the final week of the Alberta Football League season, the Central Alberta Buccaneers will live to play another day.
The Bucs fell 64-0 to the Cold Lake Fighter Jets on Saturday night at Great Chief Park and finished the season 1-5. The Peace Country Cowboys also lost their regular-season finale to the Edmonton Elite, finishing with a 1-5 record as well. With the Bucs’ lone victory on the year coming against the Cowboys, they advanced to the playoffs via a tiebreaker.
Head coach Geoff Rambaut said their defence is one of the best in the league and if their offence can get healthy and start to click they have a puncher’s chance.
Saturday night the Buccaneers struggled to gain any momentum on offence and Rambaut said they were without five of their starting receivers. It left the team with fewer players and he added they were only able to run the ball for most of the game.
“We had two guys on holidays and then three guys with somewhat significant injuries. I mean nothing that this week and then the bye week for the long weekend won’t heal but they weren’t able to play today so that left us pretty shorthanded,” Rambaur said.
With the playoffs beginning in August, the Fighter Jets will receive a bye week into the semi-finals. Rambaut said depending on which team has a bye week to the semi-finals, the Buccaneers will either play the Edmonton Elite or the Airdrie Irish in the quarter-final.
“If we end up playing Edmonton or Airdrie they’re both good teams, they’re both competitive this year, and I don’t think they’ll do anything but give us their best. We’ll have to be prepared and be on our best game to beat them for sure,” Rambaut said.
Saturday was the last home game of the season and the Buccaneers will not play games in Red Deer throughout the playoffs.
