By Robb Fenton
The date was June 19, the location was Calgary and the results were not what the Lloydminster Vandals wanted.
It’s hard to believe, but that is the last game the Vandals have played, having two bye weeks and the automatic week off for the Canada Day long weekend.
Fortunately for football fans and the Vandals, they get back on the field this Saturday afternoon.
“It was too long, we all want to get back out there playing,” Vandals veteran and defensive coordinator Matt Fischer said, adding the entire team is tired of practicing against each other. “We rested a few key injuries, but three weeks, almost four weeks between games is too much.”
The plan for the Vandals was to continue to practice and stay sharp and while they did that, Fisher admitted it was tough to really get focussed knowing there is so much time between games.
“It’s hard to keep guys motivated when there’s that big of a time gap, so we had a few practices. The more intense practices will lead up to the game, but we just got out, ran around and stayed loose during the break,” Fisher said.
Red Deer, Saturday’s opponent for the Vandals is coming off a loss this past weekend, meaning they will be hungry and determined to get back in the win column, as well as fresh compared to the Vandals.
“There definitely could be that (rust), that’s why we need good practices so we and get back running again at full speed,” he said. “During the break, you don’t practice as hard as normal. It could hurt, but we know we can go out there and execute.”
While it has been a month since their last game and it was a loss, the Vandals won’t change much up, knowing they can be near the top of the league if they play their game and stick to what they do best.
“There’s no major changes. Some of the guys that didn’t play in the last game will be back, so we’ll get some guys back. Other than that, we’re just going to go out and play,” Fisher said.
Fisher said the break was bad enough, but entering it and letting their last game simmer for a month hasn’t been pleasant either.
“That made the break even harder, knowing you didn’t come off a win and having a big break,” he said.
Red Deer usually sits near the middle of the pack when it comes to the final standings, but they are more than capable of pulling off an upset this weekend, so Fisher knows his team has to be ready.
“They are a team that always has a big bench, they always have lots of guys on their team. It all depends how well they travel and how ready they are to go too,” he said.
Offensively Red Deer will be potent, scoring 123 points so far this season and they possess a strong ground game.
“They have a very good running back, but we know we match up well with them. They have a team that if we don’t come out crisp and come out slow, we could lose,” Fisher said.
“We need good practices before the game.”
Fisher feels a good start to Saturday’s game can carry the Vandals a long way and he knows the importance of the first quarter.
“We don’t want to be slow or not crisp coming back, so basically if we come out sharp, we’ll be okay,” he said.
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With their long break behind them, the Vandals will play games on four of the next five weekends and are looking forward to the sprint for the playoffs.
“It was hard to focus, you play three games then you get a month off, now we go every weekend except the August long weekend, so it’s a good stretch of games coming up. We just have to stick to business,” Fisher explained.
Game time for Saturday’s game is 3 p.m. at Armstrong Field.