The Bonnyville Bandits are set for a rematch of last year's Wheatland Bantam Football League championship final after defeating the St. Paul Bengals in the semifinal game in Bonnyville this past Saturday.
The Bandits started the game off on the right foot when Donovan Campeau ran a touchdown in a few minutes into the first quarter. Bonnyville followed it up with another touchdown later in the same quarter before St. Paul answered with one of their own, making the score 13-6 towards the end of the first.
Despite heroic attempts by St. Paul to catch up, the visiting team could not take the lead.
Bonnyville dominated in the second quarter, keeping St. Paul from putting any more points on the board. The Bandits ended the quarter in heroic fashion, with Isaac Amalia returning the kickoff all the way back for another touchdown, followed by Campeau's run-in for a two point conversion, leaving the score at 29-6 going into halftime.
St. Paul managed to put some points up in the fourth quarter, after a series of quick moves by Bengals running back Liam Krys left the score at 43-20 for Bonnyville going into the final minutes of the game.
Bonnyville rallied for one last run, a touchdown scored by Marcel Chartrand.
St. Paul fans left the stands, crowding on the sidelines to cheer on their team as the clock ran out, and Krys once again got his hands on the ball and managed another touchdown for the Bengals.
With a final score of 49-26 for Bonnyville, the Bengals are done for the season and the Bandits will continue on.
“The game went very well,” said Dan Jubinville, coach for the Bandits. “Everybody played a good, hard game. We came out hitting in the first quarter, put some points on the board, and that's what we have to do.”
Next, the Bandits face off against the Lloydminster Mustangs in the league final, the same team they defeated to be named league champions last year, going on to the provincial finals, where they lost in a close battle against the Cochrane Lions.
Jubinville said the Bandits are taking their playoff run one day at a time.
“The team's come a long way. They're a good, close-knit family,” he said. “It's up to them, we can't teach them any more. All we can do is critique what they're doing wrong and hope that they come out to the ball game. I think we have as good a shot as anybody to go as far as we did last year, but hey, we've got to take it one game at a time.”
The Bandits take on the Mustangs in Lloydminster on Saturday.
