The St. Paul Lions travelled to Vegreville on Friday evening to face the Vortex in an evening game, under the lights. The game was Vegreville’s regular season opener.
This was St. Paul’s first game under the lights this season. The boys in black and orange got off to a rough start to begin an adrenaline-fueled matchup. The Lions were held off the scoreboard for a long portion of the first quarter, as sloppy handling of the ball was evident, according to Coach John Lumby.
To start the game, the Lions fumbled the ball five times in a short matter of time, but managed to recover the ball and avoid giving up a touchdown. The Lions did strike in the first quarter, and kept that lead while building on it for the entire game.
Lumby says the game was the hardest game he’s seen the team play against Vegreville. The Vortex has made a lot of improvements since last year, he added.
“They gave us a good battle. They had some big strong lineman and our boys underestimated them. We had a rocky start and made the mistake of thinking it would be an easy game. It took us a while to get into our usual game form. They were ready for us, but we weren’t ready for them.”
Throughout the rest of the game, the Lions began to dominate and kept the Vortex off of the scoreboard for the full length of the game, resulting in a final score of 42-0.
Although Lumby had criticisms of the boys’ start to the game, he said overall it was a good game for the team.
“The boys overcame some adversity, and once we started playing our brand of football it began going our way.
Several Lions’ players put on some impressive performances in the game, including Madison Brousseau who had over 200 yards rushing, as well as throwing two touchdown passes.
“He was a big factor for us in the game and I hope he continues that sort of dominant play throughout the year,” Lumby
Other standout performances included Henri Laidley, who made an impressive 12 tackles over the course of the game, putting on a defensive clinic in terms of taking down his opponents. Shayne Hurtubise caught two touchdown passes in the game, helping stretch out his team’s lead.
Looking forward to the Lions next game, Lumby put emphasis on his team’s need to acknowledge the skill level of their opponents.
“It’s hard to say exactly what we need to work on, but firstly we need to stop underestimating opponents. There are some very good teams in our league and we have to play well and be prepared to beat them. If we aren’t taking teams seriously we won’t win.”
The Lions’ next matchup takes place in Edmonton at an exhibition game against the Cold Lake Royals. Clarke Stadium will set the stage for a matchup between the local rivals. Game time is at 2 p.m.
