It’s Championship Saturday when the 1st place Calgary Gators play host to the 2nd place Fort McMurray Monarchs in a battle for AFL Supremacy. The Gators come into the game after a closer than thought to be 49-35 victory over the St. Albert Stars, while the Monarchs are riding a 43-7 full team effort over the Central Alberta Buccaneers.
The Gators won the season series with a 22-15 win giving the Monarchs their only loss of the season, while the Gators finished their season undefeated. As both teams match up overall very well on paper, here are some of the key players to focus on heading into the game.
Offence
Passing: The Monarchs are led by quarterback Carson Williams while the Gators counter with the quarterback tandem of Jordan Heather and Daryl Leason.
Rushing: The Gators are led by workhorse Kurt Howland, while the Monarchs counter with the two-headed monster of Melvin Abankwah and Greg Pelly.
Receiving: The Gators will hold a slight edge with 3 targets for their QBs to choose from WR Cassidy Doneff, SB Orin Doneff and WR Nathan Heather, while the Monarchs are led by the slot back duo of Pascal Tshilambo and Jordan Alexis.
Defence
The Monarchs high powered offence will face the pressure all day with Calgary’s Bryan Summers and David Dominic chasing the QB, while the Gators o-line will look to contain Fort Mac’s Scott Charles and Dave Bosch.
The battle in the secondary will be legendary with arguably the 2nd best DB in the league Major Newman of the Gators looking for a pick six every time the ball comes his way, while the Monarchs will counter with ball hawk Kayin Marchand-Wright.
Special Teams
A slight edge to the Gators on as mister consistency Ian Hewitt will carry the majority of the kicking work load, including trying to avoid any major gains from the Monarchs Jordan Alexis and Frank Bruno, while Fort McMurray will try their best to keep the electrifying Major Newman from stealing the show.
Stick around at Half Time as the Alberta Football League will announce the inductees to the 2015 Class Hall of Fame. Game Time is 7pm on Hellard Field at Shouldice Athletic Park.
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