Greatwest Article Template Double Click to Edit Details The season is finally over for the St. Paul Lions, who fell just short of reaching the provincial championship game.
After claiming the Wheatland Football League championship and laying waste to the reigning provincial champion Stettler Wildcats, the Lions were finally defeated in the Provincial Tier III Northern finals, 52-10, by the St. Albert Skyhawks at the University of Alberta’s Foote Field.
“I’m satisfied with the season that we had, I’m disappointed today. I’m disappointed that we didn’t compete closer today. The boys tried, but the team we were playing today was an outstanding football team,” said Lions coach Todd Tanasichuk, adding that the Skyhawks roster featured 23 Grade 12 players, while St. Paul has only seven.
The Lions ran into trouble early when they turned the ball over on a fumble and the Skyhawks punched in a touchdown on the ensuing drive. Things got even tougher when the Lions fumbled it again on their next possession with the Skyhawks returning the ball into the end zone to earn a 14-0 lead.
“We got off to a really bad start, which can be such a disaster in a football game. It’s really hard to recover from that, and a rare thing if you do, and we couldn’t,” said Lions coach John Lumby. “We got off to a terrible start and then had a bad mental reaction to that.”
Only a few minutes later, the Skyhawks scored again to put St. Paul into a 21-0 hole, and tempers began to flare on the gridiron as a result of the adversity.
“We had a really bad, rough start and everyone sort of lost their heads right off the bat. We made lots of mistakes we normally wouldn’t have made and they just capitalized on it,” said lineman Levi Croteau.
The second half was all St. Albert again, as Skyhawks quarterback Keith Zyla began to pick apart the Lions defense with a strong passing game, and added a touchdown only a few minutes into the third quarter, following it up with another two scoring drives before the start of the fourth quarter.
Despite being in a 42-2 hole, the Lions refused to submit to defeat, and continued to fight until every second ran off the clock.
“We played until the end,” Lions running back Jason Jubinville said. “We played hard and I have the utmost respect for those guys in the locker room; they’re my brothers.”
The Lions added a touchdown in the final quarter on a short run from Jubinville to bring the score to 52-10, giving the dedicated group of traveling Lions fans something to cheer about in the dying minutes of the game, and marking the end of the Lions’ strongest season in 10 years.
“As far as our fans go, they were outstanding today. They had our backs, they cheered so loud,” Tanasichuk said. “I’m disappointed that we couldn’t give them a closer game, but we’ll still hold our heads high.”
The Lions will now say goodbye to seven Grade 12 players, but coaches Lumby and Tanasichuk are confident in the future of the team, and the graduating players.
“The guys who are leaving are some of the heart and soul of this team, some fantastic players,” Lumby said.
“Some of them have been with us a long time, and of course we’re going to miss those guys, but we’ve got a lot of fond memories that we’ll never lose.”
The season may be over, but the Lions can still look forward to the arrival of their Wheatland Championship rings, a first for everyone on the roster.
“It means the world to me. I’ve been playing football for four years and that was my first time winning a championship game. It means a lot to me, especially doing it with my boys. It was a beautiful moment,” said guard and defensive end Dwight Garner, who will be graduating from the Lions program with the hopes of carrying on his football career with the Edmonton Wildcats or the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
“A lot of St. Paul Lions have went to the Wildcats, but I’m thinking about maybe going for the Huskies, maybe make a new legacy, start some new history.”
