Bantam Spartans make a comeback to beat Wetaskiwin

Times Reporter

 

The Bantam Spartans had a chance to make up for their devastating loss in Drumheller two weeks ago. Hard workmixed in with a good week of practice contributes to the team’s 38-13 win on Sept. 25. 

“It was really nice to see the things we worked on be implemented on the field. From the first possession you could see the boys really came to play,” said coach Rob Mussleman. 

Kenny Lemay got in a couple of good runs and three catches. 

Ryan Deines completed 60 per cent of his passes, tossing one touchdown to Shadin Timmons, and he also ran one in himself. Brandon Labonte also scored a pair of touchdowns while playing defense. Johnny Millette added a touch down to bring the team up to their 38 points. Nick Ellis and Kyle Neufield held up their defensive line by spending most of the day backfield, stacking up multiple sacks. 

“It was really nice to see the offense clicking and spreading the ball around. We had contributions across the board with four different players getting touchdowns and a wealth of yards on the ground. The defense stepped it up under the leadership of Kyle Neufeld and put in a solid effort,” said Musselman. While the victory was even sweeter after last week’s loss, Musselman said the boys still had to hit the field on Monday and practice just as hard as they had the week before. 

“The win can be attributed in large part to the linemen who came to play today. We have a small team, numbers wise, and in reality we have approximately six linemen, so they all end up playing the entire game. It was really nice to see them work hard the entire day and control the line of scrimmage from start to finish,” said Musselman.  

The biggest concern of the day was a lack of discipline for the Spartans. They were given ten penalties out of the 12 called during the game, many of them for unnecessary roughness. 

“It’s unfortunately what happens when everyone gets jacked up for a game and they really want to hit, they have to learn to pull up though. There are some things we can do this week to correct that.” 

Musselman said this is one of the most unique teams he has coached in the sense that they have been all over the map in their game play. 

“We went from week one where we had a 53-6 loss to week two when we played an exceptional game and should have won but lost 16-14 to week three when we lost 77-0 to Drum and then week 4 we get the win we were looking for,” said Musselman. 

“There are some exceptional players on this football team playing to their capabilities and there are some other kids who might not have the athletic abilities of some others but who are playing way above their heads.”  Despite having a team that is off the board sometimes, Musselman said it was nice to see things work out this last game, and the team is looking forward to its upcoming game in Wetaskiwin.