Lucas Punkari
As far as first impressions go, it’s hard to imagine many that went better than the one the Fort Frances junior football team made in their debut Monday evening over in International Falls.
Comprised of 30 players in Grades 7 and 8, the first-year squad had their way at times with the Broncos on both sides of the field en route to a 34-20 victory at Bronco Stadium.
“It couldn’t have went any better,” co-coach Doug deBernardeaux enthused afterwards.
“We’ve been practising hard and the last couple of days was probably mass confusion for everyone involved,” he noted.
“But we got the team together and ran most of the plays that we wanted to, and the guys executed them very well I thought.”
While deBernardeaux and fellow coach Ken Matthews obviously were impressed by their team’s play, International Falls coach Mike Coffield also had nothing but praise for the Fort Frances team.
“I think they surprised us a little bit with just how good they were,” Coffield admitted.
“They were really tough to go against out there, and we as a team will learn a lot from playing the guys from Fort Frances for our other games this year,” he added.
Offensively, running back Dougie deBernardeaux played a huge role in helping his team to victory, scampering for 206 yards and three touchdowns.
Eric Matthews, Jesse Quesnel, and Cole Tymkin also found the end zone.
“Those guys were standouts for us, along with Ryan Ball,” Doug deBernardeaux noted.
“I also have to credit the entire offensive line as they did quite well in helping to make things go out there,” he added.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tymkin was a force at middle linebacker, making a number of key tackles and also hauling in three interceptions.
“Cole really read the play well out there and he made a couple of nice picks,” Ken Matthews said.
“Kenton Bowles was a forced to be reckoned with out there on the defensive line, and he also made some superb blocks on the offensive line, as well,” Matthews added.
The juniors next will travel to Dryden this Saturday for a noon scrimmage, with both teams going head-to-head again here the following Saturday (Oct. 13) starting at noon.
