The St. Paul Lions ended its remarkable Wheatland Football League championship run after a loss against the Lloydminster Composite Barons last Saturday afternoon in an away game. The final score was 37 – 14 for the Barons, who now head into the final championship game against the Grand Centre Royals.
The score at halftime was 22 – 7, in favour of the Barons after three touchdowns by the Barons, and one by the Lions, courtesy of Mark Proskiw in the first quarter.
“We played them quite well,” said Todd Tanasichuk, the Lions head coach, in a phone interview on Sunday. “We made a couple of key turnovers, and two plays later, they scored a touchdown, and we were down 0 – 7 in the first quarter.”
The Lions responded and scored one touchdown to tie it up, but the Barons immediately came back to score another touchdown after.
“Late in the second quarter, we turned it over at our ten yard line on a fumble, and gave them another touchdown,” said Tanasichuk, adding, “That was a bad turning point for us.”
In the second half, both teams traded touchdowns again. “We were still down by two touchdowns,” explained Tanasichuk. “Late in the game, we gambled deep in our own end, and we gave them the ball with real good field position and they scored again to end it at 37 – 14.”
Tanasichuk went on to comment that the Lions played a good game. “We had a lot of yards on offence,” said Lumby. “But we made some key mistakes, and that cost us.”
Tanasichuk also explained that back in spring, the team looked like it had a legitimate chance of going far. However, injuries to certain key players hurt the Lions’ chances during the season.
“We only had one game out of Cy (Whiskeyjack),” said Tanasichuk. “He’s our best player, and when you lose your best player, it will definitely hurt your team.”
Tanasichuk praised the team for playing well, but he commented that he would have liked to see how the Lions would do if Whiskeyjack was available.
John Lumby, the Lions’ offensive coach, said that the Lions had a great season, and the team had a “terrific group” of players. “We had a lot of fun, and definitely made some noise.”
Lumby said that the team had some key injuries that limited its success this season. “However, I’m proud of the boys … the Grade 12s are moving on, and they’ll definitely be missed,” he said.
Both coaches are looking forward to next season with the new crop of prospects coming from the Bengals. That team decisively beat bitter rivals, the Lloydminster Chargers, on the same day to make it as Wheatland Bantam Football League champions, and will be going to the provincials.
“We’re excited with the Bengals’ prospects moving up to the Lions,” said Lumby. “There’s 20 Grade 9s on the Bengals, and they’re all good players … there’s some talent there for sure.”