Photo: Vandals wide receiver Jess Valleau makes one of his three touchdown catches, Saturday evening against the Legion. - Robb Fenton Photo
By Robb Fenton
The offence came early and often and the defence didn’t allow much.
That was the story from Armstrong Field this past Saturday evening as the Lloydminster Vandals opened up their 2010 season with a 72-6 win over the expansion Lancaster Legion.
The Vandals led 56-0 at the half and finished with 72 points as they scored at will en route to their first victory of the year.
“It was really good. It was tonnes of fun finally being out with these guys. I have a tonne of history here on Armstrong Field and just being back in Lloydminster with family and friends, it’s kind of been like a happy homecoming,” Vandals running back Curtis Vetter said.
Vetter said it’s tough to gauge where the Vandals stand after such a lopsided win, but it was nice to see the plays work, the gameplan executed and everyone hit the field and make a play when they had to, which is going to be important as the games become more important.
“I think we were able to execute all of our runs – inside, outside, counter – and a lot of our passes. I think we were just trying to execute our whole game plan in this game,” Vetter said. “There were still of course some plays that we kind of kept in the playbook for later, but we were able to get a rep or two for everything and get our backups a lot of experience which is going to help later in the season.”
Vetter gave the Legion credit for not quitting, adding they will improve as the season goes on and they get used to the league.
A game like this helps the stats, but it also gives each player confidence, knowing they can play in the league and provide something for the team.
“It’s definitely a good confidence booster, but at the same time, you have to take it for what it’s worth. It’s an expansion team. They did play their hearts out and the Vandals were in this situation when we first started, it makes you a tougher, stronger team down the road,” Vetter, who scored two touchdowns said, adding he liked his team’s approach to the game. “I like where we’re at right now, especially the intensity. In the locker room, the camaraderie is great and we’re bonding together really quick. I’m really pleased with where we’re at early in the season.”
The Valleau brothers, Jared and Jess were in mid-season form connecting for a number of picture perfect passing plays, including a few for touchdowns.
Jess caught three touchdown passes and Jared threw for five majors.
“It’s good to have a tuneup game at the start of the year to get all the execution set. It’s going to be a progression from these guys, to the Gators to the Wolfpack which will be the biggest test for sure,” Jess said.
While the stats look good and the win is nice, the Vandals know things will get more difficult as the season goes and they have to continue to improve each practice and game if they want to claim that elusive AFL title.
“There’s a lot of good teams in this league. Everyone will be a tough game so we’ll have to be ready,” Jess said.
A tuneup game was the way a few Vandals described the season opener, but playing a different defence and facing new systems does allow them to see what works and what doesn’t in terms of their plays and game plans.
“It’s hard to base execution on a game like this, but everybody got a chance to get in and get some reps so that’s good,” he said. “It felt good to get the rust off, it’s good in a game like this, but it will definitely be much harder next week.”
Vetter had two touchdowns, Jess had three, rookie Kody Herbach scored his first two in the AFL, Kurt Caron had one, Tyler Boyd caught a touchdown and Jared ran one in by himself to cap off the scoring for the Vandals.
“It’s good to start off on a good note. We can all kind of breathe a sigh of relief, we got those first two points of the season and the win, so there’s nothing but smiles all around,” Vetter said. “I know if we kind of stumbled out of the gates, frustration can mount up pretty quick, so we wanted to get a positive start and we’re all pretty happy with that.”
The Vandals will face a tougher task next week when they head to Calgary to take on the Gators, Saturday afternoon.