The Bonnyville Voyageurs season came to an end with a 21-14 semi-final loss to the Lloyd Comp. Barons.
The game didn't get off to the start the Voyageurs had wanted. They weren't able to make much ground on the first few drives. The Barons almost completed a field goal to take an early lead.
On the following drive, Silas Fagnan was sacked and intercepted in a two-minute span. But, Matthew Nahirniak helped the team out with three minutes left in the quarter with an interception.
The Voyageurs would make their way down the field but some more dropped passes would prove costly. Bonnyville just couldn't get things going until the final moments of the first quarter. Reid Skrypichayko returned a punt to the Barons nine-yard line.
As the second quarter began, Fagnan ran the ball into the end zone to give the Voyageurs a seven-point lead. A lead they held throughout the second quarter.
“We came into confident, and that's what burnt us in the long run. We didn't have a good half,” explained Fagnan. “We had a good response, but it was not good enough.”
The Voyageurs tried to short kick the ball to start the second half but couldn't retrieve it. The Barons recovered the kick and were given good field position. It wouldn't cost the Voyageurs though as the defence stood tall and forced a two-and-out.
The Voyageurs punted the ball on the next play. This was when it started to go wrong for Bonnyville. The Barons went down the field on that drive and tied up the football game.
On the ensuing play the Barons kicked the ball short. This caught Bonnyville off-guard and Lloydminster recovered. On that drive the Barons completed a 33-yard catch and run into the end zone to take the lead with a minute and a half in the third quarter.
The Voyageurs, who were now down 14-7, wanted to tie the game up to end the quarter but they just couldn't get any momentum going. They punted the ball back to Lloydminster to start the fourth and final quarter.
On that drive, the Voyageurs found themselves falling into penalty trouble. This allowed the Barons to move down the field where they scored to make the score 21-7 for Lloydminster.
The Voyageurs began to try to mount a comeback but couldn't get any momentum started. They were forced to punt on the next drive.
The Barons fumbled the football. Bonnyville recovered with less than seven minutes left to try close the gap. It began with a nice diving catch from Jacob Cardenas. He continued to make plays for Bonnyville on the drive along with Zachary Hesson and Cameron Zelisko placed Bonnyville within 20-yards of a touchdown.
Fagnan was sacked, which forced third down. On the play a pass was dropped in the end zone and Lloydminster got the ball back with three minutes.
The Voyageurs defence came up strong once again. The Barons punted the ball on third down to Skrypichayko who returned the ball for a big gain. Two minutes remained in the football game.
On the first play of the drive Fagnan passed the ball down the field. The amazing catch went off the hands of Skrypichayko, Cardenas and was finally caught by Aaron Goulet who was taken down at the one-yard line.
Fagnan ran the ball in for his second score of the football game. The score was now 21-14 with two minutes remaining.
The Voyageurs were able to hold the Barons. This gave them a final shot to tie the game with 20 seconds left in the game on their own 30-yard line.
The first play was a pass, which fell incomplete. The next play Fagnan dropped back for a pass, and would be sacked. Eight seconds remained and the Voyageurs had one final play to win tie. A short pass was completed to Skypichayko but he couldn't find any open space. The final is 21-14 for the Barons and the Voyageurs season was over.
“It certainly wasn't the way we had planned, we planned all week, we watched game film and we thought we had a decent set up. But, they came in here and out played us,” added head coach Larry Godziuk.
Skyrpichayko added, “It was an awesome season, a great group of guys… Us old guys are gone now, and were on to bigger things and this program is going to be strong for many years to come and they'll bring a championship home soon.”
