After five games the Westlock Thunderbirds are still winless, narrowly losing their first real home game at Friday Night Lights Sept. 28 to the Cold Lake Royals 28-26 in a back-and-forth slugfest.
With the loss, the Thunderbirds are now 0-5 in the Wheatland Football League with one regular season and one exhibition game to go.
While the Thunderbirds would have preferred to win in front of their hometown fans, head coach Jon Kramer said the team’s performance and never-give-up attitude throughout the game was encouraging.
“It’ll hurt for a little while, to be so close,” he said. “We had our chances, though. Usually in a game you point to two or three plays that should’ve gone the other way, but there were probably a dozen in that game that could have been difference makers. But we came to play, the guys were engaged and did some really good things out there, so we’re pretty encouraged that we ran a clean and entertaining game.”
Westlock and Cold Lake traded the lead several times throughout the nailbiter of a battle, but the Thunderbirds were their own worst enemy on the field, making a brilliant play only to have it called back because of a penalty, or narrowly missing a tackle to let the other team run the ball into the end zone.
In spite of the setbacks, Kramer said the game was probably the best the Thunderbirds have played all season and the team now has a clear picture of what it needs to tweak going forward.
“There’s a few things that we’re trying to clean up,” he said. “Now it’s coming to realize that some plays are bigger than others. We have to grow to be able to understand situational stuff and focus on the little things.”
They’ll soon have a chance to try their new plays out. The Thunderbirds are set to host the Olds Bulldogs for a charity exhibition game this Friday at 2 p.m. During the game, the Thunderbirds will be collecting bottles and money to help the family of Tristan Johnson with their living expenses as he undergoes treatment for leukemia.
Kramer noted the exhibition game would give the team a chance to rest some of their more beat up players, but said the Thunderbirds were hungrier for the win than ever.
“I think they’ve had a similar season to us, so it will be a good chance for us to try a few new things,” he said. “We’ll play to win for sure, the guys haven’t tasted a win for over a year. But we’ll make sure everybody gets their minutes and we’ll probably try a new formation on offence and keep the learning going.”
After that, Westlock hosts the Wainwright Commandos for their season closer. Depending on how that game goes, the Thunderbirds could be the third, second or first seed in the consolation playoffs.
“A couple weeks ago Wainwright beat Cold Lake 14-12, so if we end up beating Wainwright by more than two we’ll finish ahead of both of them going into playoffs,” he said. “So our destiny is still in our hands, we’re just trying to keep the guys encouraged and growing as a unit.”
