COLD LAKE – Over a 10-week season, the Cold Lake Fighter Jets dominated the gridiron and the scoreboard of the senior men's Alberta Football League (AFL).
The Fighter Jets won all eight of their 2022 season games, including sweeping the AFL Championship game 55-0 against the Airdrie Irish at Thomas Varughese Field on Aug. 20.
The Cold Lake team celebrated receiving the AFL Championship Trophy, the Jeff Holton Memorial Cup, with champagne they had brought in anticipation of their Saturday night victory.
This is the first time the Fighter Jets have earned the cup since relocating from Lloydminster as the Vandals and transforming into the Cold Lake Fighter Jets in 2019.
City of Cold Lake Coun. Chris Vining was on hand to present the memorial cup and took a moment to share the City’s appreciation to the Fighter Jets team.
Vining expressed that it has been a great experience having the Fighter Jets represent the city and take advantage of the Thomas Varughese Field.
“This is exactly what we built this for,” he said.
National Championships
Following their big win, the Fighter Jets are now preparing to host Nationals on Sept. 17 against the GTA All Stars from the Northern Football Conference (NFC) in Ontario.
The kick-off time for the national championship match has yet to be determined.
Saturday’s game
Dominating the championship game, the Cold Lake Fighter Jets had four quarterback sacks to Airdrie Irish’s one.
Stealing the show in more ways than one was the Fighter Jets’ slotback, player #8 Malik Richards, who scored the team’s first touchdown after completing a 77-yard run.
Before the game was over, Richards would go on to earn two more touchdowns and achieve an accumulated 196 yards for the Fighter Jets with the help of quarterback Raishaun Provo.
Fighter Jets’ Cole Brydges, #84, completed a 50-yard touchdown, and Branden McCraney, #9, completed a 30-yard touchdown pass. Also scoring touchdowns were running back #5 Jayde Rowe and defensive back #11 Teague Sherman.
The heated match also saw referees hand out eight penalties to the Fighter Jets and six to the Irish. Each team also earned themselves a handful of unnecessary roughing calls.
The roughly 40-man Fighter Jets roster is made up of former Lloydminster Vandals players, as well as other players from across the province, Canada and even a few from the USA.
The locally owned and operated team consists of high school graduates, retired professional players and everything in between.
Seeking sponsors
The local team will also be marking there first national game with custom T-shirts featuring community sponsors on the back as a way to help cover the cost of hosting the event. Sponsors will be provided a T-shirt.
Businesses interested in signing up for a sponsorship can contact the Fighter Jets coach Daniel Jubinville at [email protected]
