Capping off its best-ever season, the Airdrie Storm peewee football team finally met its match Nov. 3, in the 2018 Calgary Peewee Football Association (CPFA) Tier 1 championship game. In front of a packed crowd of more than 300 parents and fans at Shouldice Athletic Park in Calgary, the Storm was shut out 34-0 by the Calgary Wildcats. The Storm’s head coach, Nolan Rohl, said his players didn’t come out as competitively in the final as they usually do. “It was a big game for the boys – they were a little scared and seemed a bit intimidated in the first half,” he said. “[Not many] mental mistakes on penalties, but on the offence, we missed a few bits and pieces and they couldn’t get into the groove.” The Wildcats jumped out to a 28-0 lead by halftime, with touchdowns from Alexander Paquet, Nash MacDonald, Charles Remillard and Given Kambata. Calgary extended its lead to 34 points early in the third quarter, when Kambata held off multiple tackles and muscled his way into Airdrie’s end zone for his second rushing TD of the match. Rohl said 12-year-old Kambata – who was awarded the CPFA’s Wayne Smalley Fighting Heart award after the game – was a tough player to defend for Airdrie’s defensemen. “A 142-pound running back is very difficult to deal with at the peewee football level,” he said. “We only have a handful of players on defence who are over even 125 pounds. “Body for body, it’s difficult to take those guys down.” Despite being down by five touchdowns, Airdrie didn’t quit throughout the second half, and kept Calgary from scoring any more points in the third or fourth quarters. Rohl credited his players’ stamina for the strong finish to the game. “The big thing about Airdrie is they have a great big gas tank, so they never really slow down,” Rohl said. “We’re able to play full-out, all game long.” Though Airdrie lost the championship game, Rohl acknowledged the 2018 season was the Storm’s most successful since the program’s inception in 2005. Airdrie’s peewee team had qualified for the Tier 1 championship game by beating the defending CPFA champions, the Calgary Cowboys, 36-6 in the semi-final Oct. 27. The Storm came into the playoffs after posting a 6-1 record in regular season play, and scoring more points than any other team, with 286. Airdrie continued its positive momentum by winning its first playoff game 44-0 against the Cochrane Lions Oct. 20, before beating the Cowboys in the semi-final. According to Rohl, this year marked the first season in 14 years that the Cowboys did not make it to the Tier 1 championship game. He said beating the Cowboys was one of the highlights of the 2018 season. “It was a really good game – we did exactly what we should have done today, if the boys weren’t as intimidated,” he said. “We just came out and ran the other team over. They couldn’t do anything, and were on their heels the whole game.” The Wildcats was the only team in the CPFA to beat the Storm this year – the Calgary team also shut out Airdrie Sept. 15 during the regular season, winning 22-0.
