Richard Froese
South Peace News
The Peace River Pioneers kicked off the season in nine-aside high school football with a one win and one loss.
Upcoming, the Pioneers play their only actual home game of the season Oct. 1 when they host the Ponoka Broncs. Although the game is scheduled for 1 p.m., kick-off may be moved to 11 a.m. if Ponoka plans the travel the night before.
After playing for many seasons in the 12-aside Mighty Peace Football Conference, the Pioneers joined a provincial nine-aside league last year.
The Pioneers defeated the Coaldale Spartans 28-21 on Sept. 16 in a home game played in Ponoka so teams don’t have to travel more than 10 hours.
“It was a low-scoring start and very defensive,” head coach Mark Owens says.
“The defence was flying around the ball and played a remarkable game.”
Coaldale opened the scoring before the Pioneers battled back.
Peace River responded when Koda Owens ran the ball for a four-yard touchdown.
The Pioneers’ passing game improved and quarterback Jakob Nousek threw touchdown passes to Kylan Rebalkin and Dezso Garaba.
Rebalkin sealed the win with an arm-stretched interception in the last minutes of the game.
The visiting Pioneers were shut out 17-0 by the Camrose Trojans in the season -opener Sept. 8.
“This was a very defensive game,” Owens says.
“The Pioneers played their hearts and it was a close game the whole way through.”
Peace River dressed 18 players for the game while Camrose played with 40 on the roster.
“The defence played well and was able to shut down the Camrose offence for most of the game,” Owens says.