WESTLOCK — Despite a valiant effort that saw the Westlock Thunderbirds come back twice in the second half to tie the game, they lost a very close 39-32 battle against the Drayton Valley Warriors at home Sept. 27, in their third game of the regular season.
“We clawed our way back into it. We came up pretty flat again and it took us a little bit to get our legs and they went up 12-0 right off the bat,” said head coach Jared DeJong.
“Drayton Valley is a great team, they’re going to do very well … but we were right there with them. There’s no surprise it came down to the last 30 seconds in the game.”
The T-Birds got on the scoreboard late in the second quarter and managed to tie the game at 12-12 less than a minute into the third quarter which saw the two teams battle it out in a back-and-forth tilt with the Warriors taking the lead again 18-12 with seven minutes remaining.
However, the T-Birds proved they were not done and tied the game 18-18 late in the quarter before Drayton Valley scored another touchdown to make it a 24-18 game going into the fourth and final quarter.
While the T-Birds squeaked out a short-lived 25-24 lead with just over 2:30 remaining and notched another touchdown with 30 seconds left in the game, the Warriors fought back and scored two touchdowns a minute apart to make it a 39-32 final.
“There’s probably three or four plays that we just didn’t quite get the outcome we wanted and that was the result.”
This year’s roster has several returning players who are now “leaders on this team,” he said, noting the experience and tenacity they bring to the team.
“There’s that experience, there’s that fight and they know how quickly things can (change), explained DeJong.
Now sitting with a 2-1 season record, the T-Birds are facing a couple of new teams in the division this year, including the J.R. Robson Marauders in Vermillion, who they beat 50-37 on the road Sept. 21.
“We started that game really well, we went out and scored two touchdowns early. That’s kind of the start we’re looking to emulate and repeat at home,” said DeJong. “We really felt like we started well and we played well all the way through.”
The Thunderbirds are on the road this week in Camrose Oct. 3 before they return home for their annual “Friday Night Lights” game Oct. 13 with a later start time of 6:30 p.m. when they welcome the Caroline Cougars.
