The Lindsay Thurber Jr. Raiders are making history for the Central Football League.
The Raiders will be the first Central Alberta team to compete in the Tier II bantam final when they host the Calgary Colts Saturday at 3 p.m. at Great Chief Park.
Last season the Lacombe Raiders reached the Tier II semifinals, before losing 27-26 to the eventual provincial champion Edmonton Chargers.
Lacombe is the only other team, besides LTCHS, to advance to a provincial bantam final, losing 29-14 to the Calgary Mavericks in the 2006 Tier III final.
LTCHS reached the final with a tough 21-19 win over the Leduc Ti-Cats at Great Chief Park last Saturday.
Peewee
For the third year in a row Central Alberta has a team in the Tier III final as the Innisfail Cyclones host the Calgary Colts Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Red Deer Steelers won the championship the last two years.
The Lacombe Explosion will host the Tier IV final against the Spruce Grove Cougars Saturday at noon.
The Cyclones competed in the Tier IV final in 2009, losing 34-12 to the Camrose Buffaloes.
They reached this year’s final with a 52-0 win over the Strathmore Spartans in the quarter-final before receiving a bye into the final.
The Explosion also had a bye in the semifinals after beating the Wetaskiwin Wildcats 39-0 in the quarter-finals.
High School
Central Alberta is well represented in the provincial semifinals.
The No. 4 ranked Sylvan Lake Lakers will face the second-ranked Holy Trinity Academy Knights of Okotoks in the South Division final at 1 p.m. Saturday at Shouldice Park in Calgary.
The Lakers and Knights are the only two programs in the province to play in three different tiers. However, if the Lakers win they’ll be the first team to reach the final in those three tiers.
They won the 2007 Tier IV title over Drumheller and were second to Cochrane in the 2008 Tier III final.
The winner advances against the winner of the all-Edmonton North final between the top-ranked Austin O’Brien Crusaders and ninth-ranked McNally Tigers
Meanwhile, the Stettler Wildcats and Rocky Mountain House West Central Rebels are in the Tier III and Tier IV North Division finals respectively.
The ‘Cats, who are ranked eighth, will host the fifth-seeded St. Albert Skyhawks Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Wildcats advanced with a 20-14 win over homestanding Cold Lake last weekend.
The winner meets either the top-seeded Cochrane Cobras or the Medicine Hat Crescent Heights Vikings in the final.
The Rebels reached the North final with a 31-21 win over the top-ranked and previously undefeated Holy Rosary Raiders of Lloydminster last Saturday in Rocky.
They host the second-seeded Ardrossan Bisons Saturday at 1 p.m.
The South final sees the St. Timothy’s Thunder of Calgary meeting the Drumheller Titans in Drumheller.
In Tier I semifinal play the seven-time champion Raymond Comets travel to Calgary to face the Bishop O’Byrne Bobcats in the south final while the top-ranked Harry Ainlay Titans of Edmonton clash with the third-seeded Bev Facey Falcons of Sherwood Park in the north.
All the finals are set for Nov. 26 in Lethbridge.
The Stettler Wildcats are the only Central Alberta team to win the Tier II title, capturing the crown in 1986.
The Wetaskiwin Sabres won the Tier III title in 2006 while the Rocky Rebels took the title in 1989.
The Lakers are the only Central Alberta team to win the Tier IV crown.
Six-man
The Buck Mountain Mustangs of Buck Lake will host the St. Joseph’s Crusaders of Brooks in the south final at 1 p.m. Saturday. Fort McMurray Trappers and the Millwoods Christian Royals clash in the north.