Last Friday saw the Jasper Glaciers six-a-side football team take their first foray into the Sunchild Reserve, northwest of Rocky Mountain House, for a matchup between first and last place teams in the west division.
The outcome of the game was never in doubt. Brad Anselmo burst through the defensive line and juked his way through the secondary, as the Glaciers scored on their very first play from scrimmage. The Sunchild Bisons were unable to move the ball against the starting Glacier defense and the entire first quarter was played in the Bison half of the field.
The Glaciers added majors by Emerson Ostrander and two by Dylan Mooney to make the score 30鈥�0 before the first quarter was over.
There are a large number of Grade 9 players on the Glaciers and they were put to the test both on defense and offense from the second quarter on. Sean Lanigan played linebacker for the first time and showed a lot of promise attacking the running game of the Bisons and making tackles. Reed Eady and Jack Hilworth supplied sound defensive pass coverage as Sunchild started to throw the ball. Hayden Clark and Eric Paukstat both played defensive line and tight end, each taking the ball on a running play for positive yardage.
Bennett Paltzat was running back for one quarter and racked up 47 yards on the ground. Hilworth also took a stint at quarterback and threw his first touchdown pass to Dylan Mooney. The quality play of the Grade 9s certainly bodes well for the Glaciers鈥� future.
Ostrander also took a shot at kicking converts for the first time, making one of two attempts, while the regular convert kicker, Mooney, made five of his six attempts.
Aside from his opening-play touchdown, Anselmo also scored on a kickoff return, the first special teams major for the team this year. The final score was 62鈥�22 for the Glaciers.
For offensive coordinator Aaron Parcels, it was an opportunity for players to get a feel for different positions and he was impressed with the play of the younger Glaciers. The game was filled with acts of good sportsmanship on both sides, as all players enjoyed the balmy October weather on a perfect football day.
The final regular season game is a battle for first place, as the undefeated Glaciers host the 4鈥�1 Hinton Wolfpak. The game will be played at Centennial Field on Friday, Oct. 25 at 4 p.m.
Since joining the league in 2012, Jasper has won three straight games over the Wolfpak, and the bigger Hinton team will be looking to turn that around and head home with a victory. If Hinton manages more than a 19-point spread in a victory, they would walk away with first place.
The Glaciers would love to have a home town crowd cheering to make sure that doesn鈥檛 happen.
聽Fred Kreiner
Special to the 51暗网
