Richard Froese
South Peace News
The Peace River Pioneers have advanced to the championship final of the Alberta 9-Aside High School Football League.
The third-place Pioneers edged the host second-place Wetaskiwin Sabres 12-7 in the league semifinal Oct. 28.
“It was a hard-fought game,” head coach Mark Owens says.
Peace River was scheduled to visit the Camrose Trojans on Nov. 4 in the provincial final.
Owens says the Pioneers would be well prepared for the big game.
“We are relying on our strong and fast defence to lead us and we have some new offensive strategies going into the championship game,” Owens says Nov. 3.
In the semifinal, the Pioneers and Sabres played on a field that was cold and covered in snow.
Wetakiwin led 7-0 at halftime before the Pioneers bounced back.
Dezso Garaba scored a touchdown on a kickoff return.
Like most of the game, it was a defensive battle with slippery conditions and a frozen football, Owens says.
With two minutes left in the game, the Pioneers’ defence stopped the Sabres deep in their end.
On third down, Pioneers blocked a punt attempt and recovered the ball on the one-yard line. Pioneer quarterback Jakob Nousek punched the ball in for a touchdown to make the final scored 12-7.
The win was a sweet victory for Peace River after Camrose blanked the Pioneers 17-0 in their opening game of the season Sept. 8.