ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Bengals took the victory against Wainwright with a 34-point lead on Oct. 15.
Welcoming Wainwright to St. Paul, the away team scored the first touchdown on a long fumble return of about 70 to 80 yards, painting the scoreboard 6-0. But the bantam-level Bengals pushed back to take a 32-point lead, 38-6, by the end of the first half.
At the beginning of the third quarter, with nine minutes on the clock, Wainwright responded with a touchdown and brought the score to 38-12. Ultimately, the Bengals took the win 44-12.
“I wouldn’t say we were great today,” said Todd Tanasichuk, head coach of the Bengals. “But, we got better as the game progressed and it kind of settled down.”
He said one of the players, Alex Kennedy, was injured at the early stages of the game, “so we’re hoping [Kennedy] is okay.” When players were substituted, it “just kind of threw everybody off – but then we settled in.”
“We played pretty good,” said the coach, noting quarterback Ezra Kornelson’s calm leadership. Kornelsen (#12), Aaron Sachko (#8), and Joseph Pilipchuk (#22) scored most of the team’s touchdowns.
Tanasichuk said the game also offered an opportunity for the younger players to get some playing time, and “they actually did pretty well.” He said some of the players are also starting to “do what they’re supposed to, like performing proper tackling.
“They had some opportunity to get out there and show what they could do today and get some experience – which is huge,” he said, explaining the experience will help for next season.
Playing in a real game provides valuable experience for the up-and-coming players. “They adapt and they get better as opposed to standing on the sideline all the time,” said Tanasichuk.
The Bengals will now play Cold Lake on Oct. 22 in the last game of the regular season. If the Bengals win, they will rank first place in the league and will play Wainwright in the semi-finals.
“It’s going to be a tougher game next week for sure, so we’re going to have to be ready to play well,” said the coach. “It’s first place on the line, so we need to show up.”
