ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Bengals won their first game of the season against long-time rivals, the Bonnyville Bandits, on Saturday.
Both bantam level football teams played strong the first half, with the score staying close. When the Bengals scored a touchdown 11 minutes into the third quarter, giving them a six-point lead, 26-20, the Bandits would respond with a touchdown of their own, keeping the game close.
In the final quarter, the Bengals started strong and pulled ahead by eight points at 34-26. The Bandits kept pushing, but the Bengals found the endzone a couple more times, taking a 19-point lead, 46-27, with a minute and a half remaining in the game.
Despite the final minute trickling down, neither team let their guard down. The Bandits landed a touchdown to close the gap with just 22 seconds remaining on the clock.
But, in the end, the St. Paul Bengals would take the win, 46-35.
Todd Tanasichuk, head coach of the Bengals complimented the Bandits’ strong lineup, stating, “we’re rivals, and they’ve got great coaches too.” He added, “We're definitely two of the best teams in the league this year, if not the best.”
“I would not be surprised if it's us and them in the playoffs, but can't count our chickens, we got to work hard,” said Tanasichuk, further explaining how strong and intimidating the Bandits’ players can be.
Tanasichuk said he expected the game was going to be a battle against the Bandits, “and to be able to come out on top is nice because you don't know for sure that's the way it's going to go against a good team.”
According to Tanasichuk, one of the technical areas the Bengals will be working on will be their tackling. However, having now played the first game of the season, he is confident the team will be able to build better tacklers as the season progresses.
The Bengals will hit the road to play against Wainwright on Sept. 17, then play at home on Sept. 24 against Cold Lake.
Robbie Cole, head coach of Bonnyville Bandits, said the Bandits indeed faced challenges, including losing their number one running back in the first quarter, and their players were not used to the tall grass.
“But everybody’s playing on the same grass, so it’s no excuse,” said Cole, giving credit to the St. Paul team.
“St. Paul’s always a tough team and they’ve been our rival for years,” said Cole, explaining that he has also been coaching against Tanasichuk for about 12 years, complimenting Tanasichuk for being an excellent coach. He added, “[Tanasichuk] is not stupid and that guy knows what he’s doing.”
For the Bandits, Cole said the team will be working on their conditioning, stating, “we just really got to get a lot tougher.” He added, “These kids will come back though – it’s the first game of the season and their conditioning will get better.”
Cole said he is proud of the Bandits for pushing as hard as they could. He said the first game of the season is always tough, but he remains confident the players will improve.
“(The Bengals are) coming to Bonnyville on Oct. 1, so we're going to defend our house there,” said Cole.
