Senior Badgers blank Bisons

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Sometimes, it’s nice to get a laughable win.
The Strathmore Community Football Association senior Badgers pounded the Sundre Bisons 62-0 Sept. 9 at Crowther Memorial Junior High School (CMJHS) field.
For the Badgers, it was nice to be on the other side of a lopsided victory, following their Week 1 loss in Innisfail.
“It was a little bit of a cooler day than it was in Innisfail, so maybe our guys had a lot more in the tank,” said Badgers head coach Sean Seafoot. “We also had guys get a lot more reps in practice this week and it showed by how we were able to spread the ball around.”
It’s not like the Badgers had to work for too many of their points against the Bisons. The Badgers picked up four touchdowns off turnovers, not needing to send their offensive unit onto the field.
Brandon Middlemiss ran a pick-six 55 yards untouched to the house and Austin Drummond had himself a scoop-and-score, as he picked up a fumble and scampered 28 yards to the end zone.
Despite fumbling the ball three times in the opening quarter, the Bisons only trailed 6-0.
The Sundre squad would turn the ball over three more times before half, all leading to Badger scores.
Malikia Henry took a handoff following a Bison fumble on their own six-yard line and lambasted a Bison defender on his way to the house.
Later, the Bisons managed to get the punt off cleanly, as Luke Henry fielded the kick on two bounces, before bolting up the right side line for the score.
With the game well out of reach by the end of the third quarter, just for good measure, Henry hauled in a 41-yard touchdown reception with 0.6 seconds left on the clock, to put the Badgers up comfortably 38-0.
Her other running back partner, Angelina Palardy, rumbled her way to a pair of touchdowns.
“There is still a lot of stuff we need to improve on from this game,” said Seafoot. “I lost count after we hit 200 yards in penalties. You can’t do that against a team like Innisfail, or you don’t stand a chance.”
The Badgers will enjoy a bye week this week, before heading up to Sundre for a rematch with the Bisons.
The next home game for the Badgers goes Sept. 30, when they host the Carstairs Tigers.

Peewee
Not only does Brady Johansen look taller this season, he also looks a few steps faster than anyone else on the field.
The peewee Badgers nearly posted a shutout as well, as they ran over the Sylvan Lake Bears 31-6 at a hot and burnt CMJHS field Sept. 9.
“Overall, it was a great score for the first game of the year, but man, we have a lot of work to do,” said Badgers Head Coach Doug Thiessen.
The Badgers defence was stifling, not giving an inch. It wasn’t just one player disrupting the Bears in the backfield: Thiessen rolled through a series of different d-linemen, all plunging through the Bears offensive line.
That aggressiveness burnt the Badgers, as one costly penalty allowed the Bears to reach the end zone, which irked their head coach.
The Badgers committed their only turnover of the afternoon when they fumbled a snap on their own 41.
The Bears went with a lot of delayed handoffs and read plays with their running back, Shawn Bylsma, marching deep into the red zone.
It appeared as though the Badger defence was going to come up large again with another stop, but on third and long, they committed a roughing-the-passer penalty, which eventually led to the Bears only score.
Already with three touchdowns on the afternoon, Johansen was on the receiving end of a 56-yard flea-flicker.
“He had a great game,” said Thiessen. “He is one of our older kids. He knows all the plays and knows how our offence works.”
The Badgers are on the road this weekend, as they take on the Red Deer Hornets in Red Deer Sept. 16. Their next home game is slated for Oct. 7, when they host the Innisfail Cyclones.

Bantam
It was another blowout for the bantam Badgers; unfortunately, the local squad ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
The Badgers were trampled 40-0 by the Red Deer Hunting Hills Sept 9 in Red Deer.
“Where we broke down was the fundamental blocking on offence, which didn’t allow us to get any plays going, and we missed a lot of wrapped up tackles on defence which allowed them to pull off big touchdown plays,” said Badgers head coach Mike Hopp.
Not making anything easier has been the commitment to practice with Hopp’s players.
“We learned a lot of things on Saturday, but the main thing was that we can’t be short on guys in practice. It is difficult to coach them in specific positions if we only have 16 to 18 kids at practice,” said Hopp. “But I was pleased with the way we played in the second half. Our kids never hung their heads and only picked up one penalty.”
The Badgers go back to the drawing board in anticipation for this weekend’s matchup against Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Sept. 16 at CMJHS field. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.