Saturday November 3 concluded another season of football for the Chestermere Chiefs Football Club, our most successful to date. All 3 of our teams (Atom, Pee Wee, and Bantam) are now done playing for the season.
To start off, our new for 2018 Bantam team had a great season improving every week and on Saturday November 3 were crowned Calgary Division 3 Champions after a well-deserved 40-16 victory over the Colts from Calgary. The game was close in the first half, but our Chiefs blew the game open in the second half for a decisive win and the Division 3 Championship. The team played their best and most complete game of the season and took home the Championship in our first season at Bantam in many, many years. On this day Chiefs Running back Tyson Kolesar-Lafaut (3 touchdowns and Chiefs player of the game), Brody Holladay (2 pick sixes and Playoff MVP award winner) as well as the ever-present Tyler Bailey were three of many standouts that made sure we would not be denied. A special thank you goes out to Head Coach Chris Bailey and his staff for working with all the players all season to make this all possible. The season was truly a full team effort and would not have been possible without contributions from each one of our 32 players.
The Chief Pee Wee team concluded their season with a tough playoff loss to the eventual Division 3 Champion Stampeders in the first round of the playoffs. The young squad made a lot of progress over the course of the season and despite being undermanned due to injuries much of the season played their hearts out and learned a lot throughout the season. The team consisted of many first-year players but were led in most games by second year players; Samir Mughal, Logan Maroni, Kale Erickson, Jaden Rai, Leland LeFloch, Jericho Baker and Brennan Brown among others. The team played hard and are looking forward to next season when they should return their entire rookie line backing core and other first year players. Coach Theo Price and his coaching staff were proud of the effort put forth all season by the young club and commend the kids on never giving up.
Finally, the Chief Atom team concluded their season on October 29 and capped a successful season with more wins than losses (even though there is no official score keeping). The Highlight of the season for the club was a Monday night game under the Lights at McMahon Stadium where the Chiefs played their best game of the season, trouncing their opponent with 7 touchdowns and multiple interceptions. Thatcher Jones, Colin Johnson, JJ Garner, Jakob Roy, Alyssa Graham, and Niko Bec were just a few of the players that made sure the game under the lights in the big Stadium was going to be a night to remember for the Chiefs. Offensive Lineman Maher Elafach even managed to score a TD (a reward for great blocking) after being given a chance to run the ball! After the game the players got a firsthand look at the Calgary Stampeder’s locker room and a glimpse of their possible future. Head coach Randy Bec and his staff did a fantastic job with their young squad and were very happy with the teams’ attitude and results.
We finish with our wind-up banquet on November 16. We had the most players in our history and continue to look forward to future growth for the great team game of football in Chestermere and surrounding area. We look forward to seeing most of our players back next season and offer a mixed emotion congratulations/goodbye to the 15 Bantam players (led by 7-year Chief Adam Speidel) that head off to the Lakers next season
If you see one of our players in their Chief gear, congratulate them on a great season. If you purchased a Chief card from us or were one of our many Business sponsors, we thank you. Continue to watch for us, follow our Facebook page or web page, and if you have any interest in the great game of football as a player, coach, or volunteer for next season give us a shout at our Chestermerechiefsfootball@gmail.com
Go Chiefs!
