The speed, size, skill and strength of the Bonnyville Bandits once again proved to be just too much for their opponents to handle.
The Bandits bantam football squad started the postseason with a dominant 73-0 thrashing of the St. Paul Bengals on Saturday afternoon at Walsh Field.
“I was a little bit shocked. I thought they would give us a bit more of a stand, but our guys just played really well,” said Bandits coach Dan Jubinville.
Quarterback Silas Fagnan and receiver/running back Evan Fritzler lead the way offensively, scoring the majority of the Bandits touchdowns in the romp.
With Bonnyville up 7-0 early in the opening quarter the Bandits offence went to work. Fagnan sent a nice 45-yard pass to a wide-open Fritzler who jogged in for the touchdown.
Two minutes later Fritzler picked off an errant pass from Bengals quarterback Sheldon Scrannage at the 40-yard line and ran it back 70-yard for another touchdown.
The score gave the ball right back to St. Paul, which ended up benefitting Bonnyville. On the ensuing drive Scrannage was pressured by the Bandits defensive line fumbled the football and Bonnyville's Gideon Hunt recovered.
Bonnyville started their drive at the 30-yard line, but a series of penalties pushed them back to midfield. The Bengals couldn't take advantage of the penalties and the Bandits made them pay. Fagnan pitched the ball to Fritzler, who immediately pitched it to Jacob Cardenas reversing the play to the right side of the field. Cardenas ran 30-yards for the score and had the Bandits up 29-0.
Fritzler would go on to add a 45-yard touchdown run minutes later and Bonnyville held a 36-0 lead after the first quarter.
“On the scoring part of it those guys lead us, but they can't do it without a good line and they can't do it without a good defensive line,” said Jubinville. “You have to give the win to the big guys in the middle sometimes. Yes we scored a lot of points, but I give that win to the guys in the middle.”
The Bandits would add just one touchdown in the second quarter and held a 42-0 lead at half time.
The third quarter was where Fagnan and Fritzler once again took over the game.
Fritzler rumbled 65-yards for a touchdown, before getting a pass from Fagnan and running 85-yards for another TD.
In the fourth Fagnan added two more touchdowns rushing 10-yards and a 33-yards for the scores.
Fritzler added another 29-yard run with 47 seconds left to finish off the offensive onslaught.
The victory will put the Bandits up against the Lloydminster Chargers in the league final next weekend at Walsh Field.
If the Bandits win the league they will travel to Grande Prairie for the Northern Provincial semi-final, where a win would get them back him
