Johnny Bright Park – The St. Albert Stars continue to light it up in the Alberta Football League.
The Stars improved to 4-3 in their AFL debut after knocking off the Lloydminster Vandals 26-6 in Saturday’s opening playoff round.
“It’s been a great season so far,” said Mike Goldring, a hulking running back and kicker. “There have been a couple of first year teams in the past that didn’t do very well at all and they’re gone now but we’ll definitely be around next year.”
The Stars will now huddle up against the Central Alberta Buccaneers (5-1) Aug. 11 at 2 p.m. in Lacombe.
On the road the Stars beat the Bucs 29-27 in the pre-season and lost 46-14 in league play.
In the Stars’ second-last game before the playoffs the Bucs scored 39 unanswered points in the first half after defensive back Devin Guedo returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown on the fourth play of the game. It was 45-7 when quarterback Troy Pappas teamed up with DeVaughan Harper for a 52-yard TD strike.
“We’ll have a good fight against Lacombe. They have a pretty good quarterback and they have a very, very tough defence. They blitz every play and that’s how they beat us last time. They just shut us down in the middle and we couldn’t do anything. There was too many guys there,” Goldring said.
The winner will play the Calgary Wolfpack or Calgary Gators (6-0) for the AFL championship.
The Stars and Wolfpack finished tied in the standings at 3-3 and in the playoff rankings St. Albert was seeded third on the strength of its 46-34 win over the Wolfpack at Clarke Park.
“We’re a young team and very athletic and that definitely works to our advantage,” said Goldring, 24. “We also get along really well. There are no guys on the team that don’t like each other. There is pretty good camaraderie.”
The playoff tilt with the sixth-place Vandals, last year’s AFL and national champions, was closer than expected after the Stars blasted the Border City squad 79-3 earlier this month in Edmonton.
“It was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. We beat these guys pretty good in the regular season,” Goldring said. “These guys were missing a lot of players that day and we just came out guns blazing right from the beginning, whereas today we were a little flat. We expected to win big so it was a little bit of a shock.”
In the first quarter, Goldring’s 42-yard field goal attempt missed the posts after a crisp opening drive by the Stars.
Pappas, the co-owner of the Stars, displayed a strong arm in the opening 15 minutes for first-down completions to Corey Treeshin, Greg Germain and Brent Medwid for big gains.
The Stars capped off their third possession of the game with a Pappas to Treeshin 35-yard TD reception in the endzone with 9:41 left until halftime. It followed Goldring’s 42-yard catch at the Vandals’ 35 after a penalty nullified his long first-down run on the play earlier. Goldring also kicked the convert.
A flag also wiped out the Vandals’ 36-yard TD catch with 1:25 remaining. On third down, a snafu on the snap in punt formation by the Vandals resulted in a fumble recovery by Arron McComish at midfield.
On first down after the turnover, Pappas was picked off and the Vandals quickly marched the ball into the red zone. They ended the first half with a one-yard TD plunge after the Stars were flagged for roughing the passer. The point after attempt was no good.
Goldring’s 34-yard field goal made it 10-6 with 4:52 gone in the third quarter after Vandals turned the ball over on downs at their 37 following the second-half kickoff.
With 2:43 left until quarter time, a bootleg by Pappas from the one capped off an impressive 104-yard drive highlighted by completions to Treeshin of 19 yards and Medwid of 18 yards in double coverage, plus Goldring’s 31-yard power run and Germain’s catch at the Vandals’ 22 for 14 yards. Goldring converted the major.
Early in the fourth quarter, the teams exchanged interceptions as Richard Daniels picked off a pass for the Stars at their 54.
Lightning forced the teams off the field for about 20 minutes before play resumed with 12:28 to go.
With 7:04 to play the Vandals gave up a safety in punt formation and with nine seconds remaining Erik Kyler returned his league-leading sixth interception for the third pick six of the season. Goldring made the conversion.
“They came and played a pretty good game. They caught us on our toes in the beginning that’s for sure,” Goldring said of the 1-6 Vandals. “We had a little pep talk at halftime and that turned it around for us.”
This is Goldring’s first season of men’s football and he is impressed by the calibre of play in the AFL.
“I played junior for four years and these guys hit just as hard in my opinion,” said Goldring, a former Edmonton Huskies’ running back. “Sometimes the teams aren’t that good and sometimes it’s very good football. It depends on the teams that are playing. This year it was pretty exciting. A lot of teams beat each other that weren’t expected to beat each other.”
The high school product of the M.E. LaZerte Voyageurs juggles shift work as a power engineer to play for the Stars.
“I basically book vacation to make some of the games. I’m fairly committed.”
