The St. Paul Bengals laid waste to the Lloydminster Chargers on Saturday in a 39-12 victory that saw running back Liam Krys take to the end zone for all five of the Bengals’ touchdowns.
Despite the lopsided victory, Bengals quarterback Patty Dion is still not satisfied with where his team stands heading into the next round.
“We need to work on our offense and defense. Nothing is perfect yet, and we’ve got to practice until we get perfect,” Dion said. “We did good, we were keeping our blocks but there were still people coming through.”
Krys opened the scoring for the Bengals in their first offensive play of the game. Dion handed Krys the ball for a 50-yard run into the end zone, followed by a two-point conversion to set St. Paul up with a lead that the Bengals wouldn’t give up.
“It was a good start,” Krys said. “We definitely could see that they got down on themselves early and we just had to keep it up like that and keep them out of the game.”
Krys added another pair of touchdowns in the first half on a 90-yard punt return and a short run.
“Liam is a dynamic player. When he’s on his game, he’s a kid that’s good for three or four touchdowns a game. That’s just his ability,” Bengals coach Seth Henderson said. “It’s up to other teams to take him away, and it’s up to us to make sure that we get him the ball in situations that make him effective for us.”
The Chargers added a touchdown just before the half, but failed to convert on the point after try, bringing the score to 24-6 at the break.
Krys continued to add to the scoreboard with another pair of touchdowns in the second half. While the Chargers managed to reach the board with another touchdown, it was too little, too late as the Bengals controlled the play until the final buzzer.
“It was a pretty good win today,” said Henderson. “Our boys came right out of the gate and played pretty tough. That’s kind of been our hallmark this year, we haven’t had very many games where we have let up.”
Despite the commanding result on the scoreboard, Henderson noted that penalties were too big of a factor for the playoffs.
“Penalties killed us again today. It’s never ending,” Henderson said. “It’s just been all season they’ve been taking penalties. The boys have to learn that they can’t do that kind of stuff. We won’t win our next game if that happens.”
The Bengals will now travel to Bonnyville where they will take on the Bandits in the semifinals.
“It was a good start for our playoff run,” Krys said. “We came in with the playoff intensity and if we can carry that into next week against Bonnyville, we definitely have a chance of beating them.”
Henderson added that this match up against Bonnyville will be a chance for revenge after losing to the Bandits, 66-21, earlier in the season.
“That’s a big revenge game for us. We’ve got a sour taste in our mouths after getting beat,” Henderson said. “They put a hurting on us, our guys remember that. Our guys went to Wainwright and beat Wainwright to make sure that we got Bonnyville in the second round of the playoffs for that reason.”
