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U16 Central Alberta Fire heading to league finals

The U16 Central Alberta Fire will play for the league title and the U19 squad will battle for third place
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The U16 Central Alberta Fire could wrap up first place in the league final with a win on May 5th. (Photo by Ian Gustafson/ Advocate staff)

The U16 Central Alberta Fire are one game away from winning their first-ever Southern Alberta Female Football League title.

The all-female football team defeated the Foothills Eagles 70-12 on Sunday in the semi-finals to advance to the league championship this weekend.

They'll take on the undefeated Calgary Wildcats this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at Shouldice Park in Calgary.

"Our offensive coordinator Adam Donovan's got the girls rolling. He's got some really great plays that they've bought into," said Fire head coach Dallas Haldorson.

"They've been learning a lot of football skills and it's finally clicking so it's been great."

The Fire finished the regular season with a 2-1 record which led them to playing the Eagles in the semi-finals. Since the Wildcats finished on top they received a bye into the league finals.

The Fire know they'll have their hands full this weekend. If they win they'll head to provincials to face the team representative from northern Alberta which takes place in Red Deer on June 8.

"They did beat us at home at the beginning of May so it's the rematch we're really excited to play again," Haldorson said.

"They're really well coached. They've got a fairly large team so they draw from probably 20-24 players. They've got some great athletes as well so it'll be a battle."

This season was many of the girl's first experiences playing any type of organized football. Haldorson said he saw a lot of growth from everyone throughout the season.

"They've really dug down in the offensive playbook and it's starting to come together. On the defensive side, the tackling has improved, and reacting to what they see from the other team's offence has improved as well. It's been a great year."

However, the U19 Central Alberta Fire will not compete for a championship after losing their semi-final matchup 44-28 to the Wildcats in Calgary.

The Fire had an early lead for most of the first half. In the second half, the Wildcats pushed to take the lead, and head coach Martin Rheaume said it came down to the final few minutes of the game.

"Due to injuries we were a little low in terms of depth and we were forced to put players in new positions just to be able to cover the offence and defence," he said.

"The Wildcats, because of how strong a team they are, were able to capitalize on those errors and score some points. We came out on the losing side of that battle."

The gold medal match will now be between the Wildcats and the Foothills Eagles that takes place this Sunday in Calgary. The Fire's season isn't completely over as they'll play for third place this Sunday against the Airdrie Raiders.

They completed the regular season with a 2-2 record in third place in the standings. Overall, he said the girls got better throughout the season.

"We had quite a few new players. To see those girls grow was fantastic. They bought into the system and did quite well... They adapted and they had to step up because we had few injuries," Rheaume added.

"They did their best, especially in that last game. They put everything on the line and I couldn't be prouder of their efforts."