This year the Warriors Bantam Team is starting the season with an almost 30 player roster, of that 30, 12 are veteran bantam players, only 7 of which are returning starters.
Making the majority of the team new to this level of football. This year’s team is very different than last year’s team. We however are not short on good leaders, or teammates who are committed to each other, to getting better as both as a team and individuals. We created a new playbook to suit their strengths on offense and defense and are only starting to scratch the surface of their potential.
They showed that potential on Saturday Sept. 7th the Warriors Bantam Football team kicked off the regular season at home against St. Albert Fury. This was a hard fought game on both sides, not just on offensive or defense but also special teams. Both teams returned kickoffs for touchdowns creating big momentum swings. Our defense played well bending but not breaking, under a diverse attack from the Fury both in the air and on the ground. We made some mistakes which turned into touchdowns for St. Albert, but nothing that we won’t improve on every day at practice. You’d expect in football that some of the biggest plays would come from the biggest players when in fact some of our biggest defensive plays where made by our smallest Warriors, playing well above their perceived weight class.
On offense we were not yet as diverse as we plan to be but were able get the job done. Some pregame shuffling to our offensive line due to our starting left tackle being unable to take the field caused some extra nerves. However our offensive line took it in stride, with one of our former Pee Wee Warriors filling in at LT showing he is more than ready for this level of football. Our running backs had a great day running the football, leaving nothing but broken tackles in their wake. Our passing game had some success but wasn’t as effective as we planned. We are sure with some more practice we will be able to spread the field and bring a more balanced attack on offense.
When the final whistle blew it was a great game, full of excitement from big plays and big hits. A great team effort from the Warriors which lead us to a 46-27 Victory.
-Submitted by Head Coach Daniel Branco