The St. Paul Lions lost a hard-fought game against their rivals, the Grand Centre Royals from Cold Lake, last Friday in St. Paul by a score of 11 - 16.
The Lions were leading 3 - 2 after the first quarter, but the team took a safety after getting pressured by a drive from the Royals.
The first quarter was a costly one to the team, with the injury of one of their defensive veterans, linebacker Cy Whiskeyjack. Whiskeyjack sat out the rest of the game with a knee injury. The first half of the game would end with a score of 8 – 3 for the Lions.
The Lions went on to score another field goal in the third quarter to put the score at 11 – 3, but that wasn’t enough to make up for mistakes the team made in the first half, according to Todd Tanasichuk, defensive coach for the Lions. “We were carrying the play … but we had five fumbles (in the first half), and that really hurt us,” said Tanasichuk.
The last few minutes of the fourth quarter turned everything around for the Royals, when the team scored a touchdown on their third rush of the quarter, bringing them within two points of the Lions.
The Lions defence tried to hang on for the last two minutes of the game, but the Royals’ offence got away with a pick play, and went on to score another touchdown with 51.4 seconds left in the game to put the final score at 11 – 16 for the Royals.
“It was unfortunate … they ran interference on it and that led to their second touchdown,” commented Tanasichuk.
John Lumby, the Lions’ offensive coach, commented after the game that the team had their opportunities to win the game. “Defence played a heck of a game,” said Lumby, adding, “We had some key injuries that hurt us. We needed to score touchdowns, and punch it in at least once, and we failed to do so.”
Tanasichuk also mentioned that the team has to take advantage of opportunities. “For three quarters, we were in front as far as position of play. And we got to take advantage of that and punch it into the end zone,” explained Tanasichuk. “We allowed them to have the opportunity to come back and win, and that’s what happened.”
The Lions will next face the Bonnyville Voyageurs next Friday in a home game at 7 p.m.
