Week 3 of the Sylvan Lake Minor Football season has concluded with a mixed bag of results.
LIONS
The Bantam Lions were on the road under the lights of Setter’s Place onThursday night taking on the always tough Hunting Hills Lightning. Faced with a short week and a game time change due to the referee shortage the Lions’ young roster was in tough and ended up coming out on the short end of a 32-14 score. Like their opening game, led by a tough defence, they continued to battle hard to the final whistle fighting back from a 20-0 deficit with two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter to keep the score respectable.
Kai Bedford, who is quickly establishing himself as one of the league’s best running backs, was named player of the game for his strong performances on both special teams and offense – leading the Lions with over 100 yards rushing for the second consecutive game.
TIGERS
On Saturday, the Atom Tigers were out in Rocky for a double-header against both the Rocky Rebels and the Red Deer Bucs. With a number of veteran players unavailable this weekend, the Tigers were also in tough but were able to keep both match-ups on an equal level with the coaching staff being happy with the overall result.
The HJ Cody Lakers, coming off their hard fought win against Lacombe the previous week, were faced with too many injuries and unable to field enough players to meet the 24 player roster requirements so ended up having to forfeit their game against the Notre Dame Cougars.
BEARS
Capping off the weekend with a rare Sunday game, the U13 Bears remained undefeated with a gritty 32-6 win against the Lacombe Explosion in a game closer than the score indicated. Led by Weston Patterson, who captured his second straight Player of the Game nod, and a tenacious defence, the Bears were able to overcome several key penalties that snuffed out multiple scoring drives and big plays.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Things don’t get any easier for the Bears this weekend as they are back in action with one of two other remaining undefeated teams, the Red Deer Scotia Bucs on the road at Setter’s Place this Saturday at 3:00pm. The Lakers will be returning to the friendly confines of HJ Cody field for their home opener against the Hunting Hills Lightning Friday at 4:00pm. The Tigers are back out in Rocky for another doubleheader against Innisfail and Lacombe starting at 3:00pm while the Lions strive to roar on to the win column when they take on the Lindsay Thurber Junior Raiders at 10:00am Saturday, also at Setter’s Place in Red Deer.
