The St. Paul Lions were not able to overcome history and become the first visiting team since 2002 to claim victory in the Wheatland Football League (WFL) championship game.
The Holy Rosary Raiders of Lloydminster completed its second perfect WFL season in a row by downing the Lions in the championship game by a score of 41-21 on Friday night.
“The effort level was there by our team,” said Todd Tanasichuk, the head coach of the Lions. “However we did have some issues defensively with their bigger size and there were times where they were able to really limit us offensively at times. They won the important battles.”
Quarterback Patrick Dion said the Lions’ defeat did not happen because of a lack of effort.
“Everybody put everything they learnt this season into every play of the game and every player on the team put their heart into every play of the game too. They were just the better team.”
The Raiders opened the scoring under five minutes (7:07) into the game. Garrett Kryzanowski jogged the ball for a 16 yards rushing touchdown. Quarterback Tommy Yanchuk earned the PAT to make the score 7-0.
The Lions responded prior to the end of the first quarter. A huge rush down the field by Donovan Campeau set up the scoring play. In order to prevent Campeau sailing in for a touchdown, the Raiders defence pushed him very hard right off the football field onto the school’s track and field course. The Raiders were given an unnecessary roughness penalty, which moved the Lions within a couple of yards away from the end zone. Liam Krys managed to muscle his way past the goal line with 39.3 seconds remaining in the quarter. Madison Brousseau earned the PAT to knot the game up at 7-7.
The Raiders struck early in the second quarter (9:29) to retake the lead. Quinn McPherson ran the ball up centerfield for four yards to earn the major score. Yanchuk then earned his second PAT to stake the Raiders to a 14-7 advantage.
The Raiders stretched the lead to a two-touchdown differential with 1:54 remaining on the clock before the end of the first half. Yanchuk took matters into his own hands and rushed the ball four yards into the end zone. He earned his third PAT to make the game 21-7.
The Raiders struck again quickly to earn another touchdown before the end of the first half. With 7.4 seconds remaining on the clock, Yanchuk threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Erick Gareau to make it a 27-7 game. Yanchuk could not get the PAT as the holder of the ball fumbled it.
The Raiders earned its fifth touchdown of the game with 1:35 remaining in the third quarter. Yanchuk made a pinpoint 18-yard pass to Kryzanowski and he took it across the goal line for his second touchdown of the game.
The Lions energized their supporters in the crowd by striking 21 seconds into the quarter. Dion made a terrific 35-yard pass right down centerfield to Parker Lumby in the end zone. Lumby caught it and narrowed the gap in the game. Brousseau added the PAT to make the contest 33-14.
“That pass to Parker was the highlight of the game for me,” said Dion. “It was one of the best offensive plays I made all season.”
The Raiders responded with 8:30 remaining in the game. Justin Millar scored off of a 61-yard touchdown pass from his quarterback. This score increased the Raiders’ lead to 39-14. Yanchuk failed to get the PAT.
With 2:30 remaining in the game, the Raiders’ defence forced the Lions to give up a safety to the Raiders. This made the score 41-14.
Donovan Campeau, as he has done all season, led his team in rushing yards in the game. His hard work paid off. He earned a five-yard rushing touchdown with 26 seconds remaining in the game.
In the text message to the Journal, Campeau said the following about how his team and himself performed in the big game: “As a team, I think we did very well for the size and experience level of the team we have. We have lots of heart and there was no quit when we were behind. As for my own game, I went out and gave everything I had. I knew that Lloyd was going to be keying off of me so it meant I had to come out and do what I do.”
At the end, the Lions were saluted by the big contingent of people from St. Paul that made the trip and braved the cold to witness the championship game.
“The crowd was absolutely fantastic,” said Tanasichuk. “I wish we could have performed better for them but it was incredible that so many of our fans came to the game.”
Campeau texted that he wants to thank the crowd “for coming out to the game and supporting the team throughout the whole season.”
While the Lions players were hoping for a more favourable result on Friday, they can take pride in what they accomplished. They posted a 6-1 record in league play, won their pool and became the third Lions team to make it to the league final in the past four years.
“In a team sport like football if you don’t have buy-in, you won’t succeed,” said Tanasichuk, adding that was not an issue this season. “This year, it was great.”
“The reason we did so good was we had great commitment and we had no quit and amazing team heart and effort,” said Campeau.
The Lions will lose 11 of its players to graduation. Tanasichuk says it is necessary for the returning players to fill these holes in the roster by dedicating themselves to be even better football players next year. The Lions coach also hopes that next year’s Grade 10 students can add to the team’s overall depth.
On behalf of everyone in the Lions organization, Coach Tanasichuk would like to thank all the people and businesses that supported the team throughout the 2015 season.
