The lead that Wildcats had earned over Sabres in the third quarter whittled away in the fourth as Sabre player Dalton Letawsky scored a touchdown, followed by Ben Taje’s convert to tie the game at 22, on Friday, Sept. 18.
Wildcats got a good start as Alex LeBlanc scored a field goal in the first seven minutes of the first quarter, and reinforced the lead by a touchdown in the second.
But the Sabres played a strong game to restrict Wildcats to a tie in the end.
“We had a tough week of practice leading up to this game, a lot of kids were sick or had nicks and bruises from last week which kept our numbers low at practice throughout the week,” said Guy Neitz, assistant head coach and offensive co-ordinator. “This lack of focus and enthusiasm transferred into the game on Friday.”
Wildcats player Cooper Smyth ran the ball well and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, including a passing touchdown.
What went against the Wildcats was way too many penalties that killed drives and gave Wetaskiwin a fresh set of downs to extend drives.
Wildcats had at least five major unnecessary roughness penalties plus several illegal blocks and offside calls, which gave Sabres an edge.
Wildcats offence put together some great drives and scored quickly, but did not play with enough consistency to keep Wetaskiwin's offence off the field.
The defence was strong, keeping Wetaskiwin to only having a couple of plays over 10 yards and forcing three turnovers.
“I will take the blame for the loss on Friday night,” said head coach Norbert Baharally. “I did a poor job of making substitutions, I should have kept our players a little more fresh than what they were and had more regular rotations and substitution happening throughout the entire game.”
Wildcats player Austin Rosland also had a strong game at tailback and Terran Garbutt was strong on both offence and defence.
But Sabres took advantage of crucial fumbles to surge ahead, especially in the fourth quarter, when opponent Dalton Letawsky scored a touchdown, followed by a convert as Sabres tied the game at 22.
“For us to be successful, both the offence and defence have to execute consistently with the offence keeping the ball in our possession and the defence limiting the opponents’ time on the field,” said Neitz.
Wildcats plays Camrose Trojans next on Friday, Sept. 25 in an evening, under-the-lights game at 7.30 p.m.
The game is preceded by a tailgate party from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., which will be a fundraiser for all the football teams.
There will also be an open house for the field house in the first hour to give an insight into the progress and completion of the facility.