Donovan Campeau, who led the St. Paul Lions with 141 rushing yards in his team’s 30-14 win over the Lloydminster Composite High School Barons on Friday night, says the team’s determination was a decisive factor in the outcome.
“We came out with heart. Straight off the bat we came out hitting hard. We knew they were a tough team with bigger team numbers than we did but we found a way to win because we played with more heart than they did.”
Lions’ Head Coach Todd Tanasichuk said that one of the key messages the coaching staff delivered to the players was the importance of playing on the field with a lot of desire.
“We knew that heart was going to be a determining factor. We faced a lot of adversity before the game because we lost two off our two of our starting offensive lineman. We knew we were under-manned and we knew our rookies were not ready to play in this big game environment so we leaned heavily on our veterans.
“They were playing a ton of football. When you are exhausted and it is 24 degrees out you have to dig deep and they sure did. They were tired at the end of the game but they had smiles on their faces.”
The Lions’ set the tone by impressively controlling the ball on offence for about the first nine minutes of the quarter. Little by little the Lions was able to inch their way up the field to get themselves into within less than 10 yards of the Barons’ endzone. Patrick Dion armed the Lions with a lot of momentum by finishing the offensive drive successfully with a touchdown run.
“That was a long nine-minute drive for us,” said Tanasichuk. “If (the Barons) survived that there would not have been a lot of wind taken out of their sails, so the fact we scored was huge for us.”
The Lions added two points to its 7-0 lead in the second quarter by virtue of its defense trapping the Barons in its own endzone. The Barons’ quarterback opted to down the ball and surrender two points.
Dion earned his second touchdown early in the third quarter. His third-down gamble play was highlight-reel quality.
“It looked like they had him stuffed but he was able to spin out of the crowd and run the ball 50 yards for the touchdown,” said Tanasichuk. “That was a huge turning point of the game. He is our team leader along with Donovan.”
That touchdown made the score 16-0.
Dion, who showed a lot of quickness on his rush, says team speed was a positive against the Barons.
“We have a lot of team speed and we were able to get quite a bit of outside runs. We just need to work on our blocking and we should be able to get to the outside without anyone catching us.”
After being stonewalled by the Lions defense for the first half— a lot of two-and-outs were forced— the Barons finally managed to get some offensive momentum late in the first half and throughout most of the third quarter. Lloydminster got on the board to make the score 16-7.
The St. Paul Lions’ veterans reclaimed momentum in the fourth quarter. Donovan Campeau and Madison Brousseau rushed the ball into the endzone to give the Lions’ a 30-7 lead.
Brousseau, Campeau and Dion have earned touchdowns in both Lions victories this season.
Tanasichuk says his team was exhausted when Lloydminster earned a touchdown with eight seconds left in the game. He adds that once that some of the younger players find a way to “add to our team depth, we can let some of our guys rest a bit more so we can be fresher late in games.”
The Lions’ second home game of the season is on Friday at 5 p.m. against the Bonnyville Voyageurs (1-1). Last season the Voyageurs managed to end a decade-long winless streak at St. Paul. Tanasichuk says his team is “looking forward to returning the favour.”
Lions Statistics:
SCORING
Patrick Dion - 2 TD - 12 points
Madison Brousseau - 1 TD, 4 converts - 10 pts
Donovan Campeau - 1 TD - 6 pts
Team Defence - 2 pts
RUSHING
Donovan Campeau - 141 yards on 21 carries. 1 TD
Patrick Dion - 93 yards on 8 carries. 2 TDs
Madison Brousseau - 46 yards on 5 carries. 1 TD
Liam Krys - 26 yards on 8 carries
Christian Laramee - 2 carries for 1 yrd.
PASSING
Patrick Dion 3/9 for 58 yards.
Donovan Campeau 0/1 for 0 yrds.
RECEIVING
Simon Chamberland - 1 catch for 41 yards
Brad Dubrule - 1 catch for 17 yards
Donovan Campeau - 1 catch for 0 yrds
TACKLES
Spencer Graling - 9
Donovan Campeau - 5
Patrick Dion - 5
Matt Mohyluk - 3
Jon Kotowich - 3
Christian Laramee - 3
Brad Dubrule - 2
Madison Brousseau - 2
Colin Macmillan - 1
Matt Kotowich - 1
Simon Chamberland - 1
Liam Krys - 1
Parker Lumby - 1
Dylan Weise - 1
Will Spacil - 1
Austin Campbell - 1
INTERCEPTIONS
Shayne Hurtubise - 1
