A dull grey sky, cool temperatures and spitting rain made for a miserable season opener for the Stettler Wildcats and was reinforced by a painful loss to the Camrose Trojans.
Despite the 23-0 loss to the visiting team, the Wildcats continued to work hard as a team. After giving up eight points in the first quarter, the Stettler boys regrouped and put a halt to the Trojans’ advance in the second quarter – though they themselves couldn’t break through the visitor’s defensive line.
Despite making eight pass attempts throughout the game, the Wildcats couldn’t quite manage to complete them, though they came close several times.
What they did do, however, was intercept the pass attempts of the Camrose players; of four pass attempts by the visiting team, the Wildcats intercepted two, the Trojans fumbled one and completed one.
The Stettler team was also fast on recovery, snapping up Trojan fumbles to gain a few precious yards five times.
The Trojans played hard and as such earned their fair share of penalties, racking up 16 before the game was done and giving 170 penalty yards. Stettler’s boys kept themselves together, earning about half that and giving up 65 yards.
Despite the second quarter rally, though, the second half of the game was not kind to the Wildcats, as the Trojans secured eight points in the third and another seven in the fourth to shut the home team out of the scoreboard.
The Wildcats next play on Sept. 19 in Wetaskiwin, and at home on Sept. 25. Both games start at 7 p.m.