The St. Paul Lions finally got to pick on someone their own size and handily defeated the Sexsmith
Sabres by a score of 39 – 13 in the tier IV provincial quarterfinal.
The St. Paul teams made the trip to Grande Prairie in freezing rain and blowing snow, arriving late Friday afternoon. A good meal and a night's sleep later, and the St. Paul football machine was ready to roll. Rust was a definite worry as the Lions had not played a down of football in the three weeks after being eliminated from the Wheatland Football League (WFL) playoffs.
St. Paul soon proved that they were firing on all cylinders and dominated the Sabres in all
aspects of the game.
The Lions received the opening kickoff, 70 yards and six hand-offs later Braden Pazuik barrelled
seven yards into the endzone for the touchdown. This was the beginning of a long afternoon for the
host Sabres with St. Paul shutting down the Sabres and scoring another touchdown minutes later on a seven-yard scamper by Owen Breast.
The first quarter ended 13 – 6 Lions. Kyler Tichkowsky added a dozen- yard touchdown run and Ethan Boisclair a field goal to go up 23 – 6 at the half.
"The boys are all healthy and the three weeks of practice really showed. We scouted these guys,
watched film and knew what we were likely to get. They played hard and tried with everything they
had, but there were no surprises from Sexsmith,” said Lions head coach Mark Tichkowsky
Rather than let up, St. Paul kept the pedal to the metal until midway through the third quarter. With the
score 32-6 the Lions started putting in their reserves. Back-up players played the last two and a half
quarters.
Breast and the Lions would score one more touchdown and Sexsmith would get a major with
43 seconds remaining for a final score of 39 – 13.
“We are lucky to play in a tough league. (Lloydminster) Comp and (Holy) Rosary are really good teams. We learned a lot in those games to get ready to play teams in our weight class," said Brady Fodness.
Both the offence and defense were running on high octane. The defence would go on to only allow five Sexsmith first downs in the game. St. Paul made five interceptions and two fumble recoveries with Breast alone intercepting three Sexsmith passes, one for a pick six touchdown.
“Owen was a beast on both sides of the ball with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Both of our lines played great and we got to work in a lot of different players. Eight different players checked in on the offensive line. I don't want the boys to get big heads but we played a complete game,” said Tichkowsky
The Stettler Wildcats will now come to St. Paul this weekend. The game is set to take place on Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. at Regional Field where the teams will battle in the North Final. This will only be the third time in the 35-year history of St. Paul Football that the Lions have progressed to the semifinals, and the first time ever to host.
“Stettler looks big, mean and well coached. They went 7-0 and won the B Division of their league. We will be watching film and putting in the leg work. Football games are won as much in the classroom as on the field," said the coach.
An army of volunteers will be out in force this week to prepare the field for the big game lead by Roger
Girard and Lions' general manager Todd Tanasichuk. Those volunteers will be clearing the field and
stands, running concessions, and hopefully welcoming a good portion of St. Paul to cheer on the local
boys.
“It would be great to see the stands full Saturday. Stettler normally brings bus loads of fans and
we don't want to be out cheered in our own hometown,” said Tanisichuk.
If the Lions defeat Stettler, they will travel to Fort McMurray for the tier IV Provincial Championship on Nov. 23.
In other Wheatland Football League news, Tier II Lloydminster Composite Barons beat Austin
O'Brien Crusaders 18 – 17; and Tier III Holy Rosary Raiders defeated Sylvan Lake Lakers 42 – 14 in
the quarterfinal games. That means that the WFL representatives advanced in all three tiers represented.
