Nearly three years since their last official game, the Airdrie Raiders' return to the gridiron ended with a comfortable victory on April 1.
Airdrie's midget football team kicked off the 2022 Calgary Spring Football Association (CSFA) season with a 28-7 win over the Calgary Colts, at Shouldice Athletic Park.
The occasion marked the U17 squad's first time playing in a competitive game since they won the CSFA Division 2 championship in late May 2019. Both the 2020 and 2021 spring football seasons were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lengthy hiatus means the entire Raiders roster is playing their first season of spring football this year, according to head coach Steve Kemp.
“None of these kids had ever played a down for us before,” he said. “It’s been amazing, and we feel so lucky to be back out here. It’s something that as coaches and players, we’ve wanted for a long time.”
The Raiders took some time to get going on Friday night, but thanks to a couple of touchdowns from receiver Tyson Heather and running back Paul Condon, quickly built up an 18-7 lead by halftime.
The Colts’ defence managed to keep the Raiders out of the end zone in the third quarter, despite plenty of pressure from Airdrie's offence. Toward the end of the third quarter, Heather kicked in a field goal to extend the Raiders’ lead to 21-7.
“The first quarter, we kind of needed to find our groove, but once we found our rhythm, we started to pull away with it,” Kemp said. “There are still lots of things to clean up. Particularly in the third quarter, we got in their red zone a lot, and we need to get out of there with more than just three points.”
Airdrie’s defence likewise was able to keep the Calgary team’s offence at bay throughout the second half, and Heather managed to catch another touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to put the game to bed.
“It was mainly getting good speed on our routes, making our blocks, and making sure everyone does their jobs,” Heather said. “Once we did that, we really started to get going.”
With just one game under their belt so far, Kemp said he and the rest of the Raiders coaches are still trying to determine the team’s strengths, but he pointed out the squad's athleticism and versatility on offence.
“We’re fast, on defence we’re aggressive, and offensively, we can throw the ball and make plays,” he said. “We’re more of a passing team, but we have some world-class running backs back there, so we’re pretty balanced.”
Airdrie will look to continue their winning ways in their second game of the season this week. They’ll take on the Calgary Stampeders on April 7 at 8:15 p.m. at Shouldice Athletic Park. The Stampeders lost 12-0 to the Calgary Hilltoppers in their first game of the season.
“I think everyone is happy with the season so far,” Heather said. “If we can do what we did today, we can do really good.”
