The head coach of the St. Paul Bengals is really proud of his team for its outstanding season this year, even though the home team ended its season with a provincial finals loss against the Calgary Colts on Saturday afternoon in Calgary. The final score was 37 – 14, in favour of the Colts.
The hometown boys were behind, 30 – 0, by half-time, after the Colts scored most of their points in the second quarter, according to Seth Henderson. “I think they were the better team for sure, and that really contributed to the score.
“Travelling down to Calgary for six hours (for the team) didn’t help us either,” explained Henderson, adding, “We left on Friday and stayed overnight … that played a factor in how we played our game.”
The Bengals tried to make a comeback in the fourth quarter, by punching two touchdowns, one of them by the team’s star quarterback, Brenden McKay, and another by Taylor Joly, in the same quarter, to put the final score at 37 – 14.
Unfortunately, the Bengals ran out of time and opportunities to score more touchdowns after letting the Colts get the lead for the first three quarters of the game.
“We didn’t come out to play at the first half,” said Dmitri Krys, receiver and running back for the Bengals. “In the second half, we came out a lot stronger, but wasn’t enough to win it.”
The hometown boys had a good season, and went almost undefeated in the Wheatland Bantam football league, said Henderson with pride. “I think it was a great experience for the younger guys, and they learned a lot from it.”
Krys also felt the Bengals had a great season overall. “We went further than anyone could’ve expected us … I’m pretty proud of the team.”
“Everyone came out and practiced really hard,” said Henderson, adding, “Even though we didn’t go undefeated the entire year, having one loss in our record isn’t that bad at the end of it.”
Henderson continued by saying that kids and parents in St. Paul will take notice of what the Bengals have done this year, and he is hopeful that there will be a lot of players coming out for the next spring and fall football camp.
“Having the ability to go deep in the playoffs shows that St. Paul can compete in football against other teams,” he said.
For Henderson, the team’s Wheatland Football Championship game against the Chargers will remain memorable.
“That was a game where the kids were pressured to do the best,” explained Henderson. “And they did their best.
“I would say that when we won our championship game is a big, big thing for us this year.”
The Bengals will celebrate and honour their players, coaches and volunteers during the team’s annual awards night on Dec. 2.
