CFC CAMFA Game of the Week: Fireworks & redemption

***UPDATED 04/24/2014 @ 18:30EST***

When the Mavericks visit the Wildcats on Friday in Calgary and Area Midget Football Association Week 3 action, it will mark the first time these two teams have met since last year’s final.

In the Division 1 Championship, the Wildcats got by the Mavericks 46-38.

With the disappointment of last year’s outcome, the Mavericks are ready for the rematch.

“We are excited for this game,” commented Mavericks Head Coach Scott Rideout.  “I think our veterans are treating this as a bit of a redemption game after losing the Wildcats in the city championship game last year.”

Going into this Week 3 showdown, the Mavericks know the Wildcats will be ready for battle and don’t expect this to be an easy four quarters of football.

“The Wildcats have been a successful team for several years, they have great coaching and always put a solid product on the field,” assessed Rideout.  “Hopefully, our team will play that much harder knowing they are going against last year’s champs.”

In order to come out on top against the defending Division 1 champions, both the Wildcats offensive and defensive units will have to be successful in their game execution plans.

“Our offense is clicking again and we plan on using a balanced attack,” described Rideout.  “Our defence will continue to apply pressure and hope we can force a few mistakes.”

Several players will be expected not only to contribute but provide leadership in achieving their goal.

“We are looking for our playmakers on defence to step up on defence – Gordon Sorgo, Patrick Apuzzo, Deane Leonard and Steven Finot,” said Rideout.  “We were happy with our ability to force turnovers and turn them into points last week. “

“Offensively, Colton Hunchak is our nucleus and he has done a fantastic job distributing the ball to our playmakers Jon Girma, Avery McCuaig and Nathan Rowe.  Our running back Kaedon Armstrong is hungry coming into this week and has looked amazing in his grade 11 year.  The Wildcats have a lot of talent and are a great team, we won’t focus on any one individual but try to stay disciplined on defence and win some one on one battles on offence.”

As for the Wildcats, the team is expecting a highly competitive battle against the Mavericks.

“We are playing a talented and determined team in the Mavericks on Friday night,” commented Wildcats Head Coach Greg Wilson. “They will be undoubtedly fired up for us on Friday night as we beat them in last season’s Championship Game.”

“There is a lot of pride at stake on both sides of the ball and our boys need to come out hard and try to set the tone.”

For the defending Division 1 Champions, all three Wildcats’ units will have to be successful in executing their own game plan.

“The keys to our success on offence is eliminating unforced errors,” assessed Wilson.  “On defence we need to contain their star quarterback, Colton Hunchak – this is a huge challenge for us.”

“We also need to gang tackle more than we have been.  Our secondary has played well so we should be able to challenge them well in the passing game.  On special teams we need to win the field position battle and have worked on that a lot for the last two weeks.”

While this is only Week 3 of the CAMFA season, the Mavericks come into this game with a lot at stake.  Not only is the team neck and neck in the standing with a couple other teams, but the Mavericks know that one regular season game can impact postseason chances.

“We are in a tight race with two other teams at 2-1 playing against a cross town rival that is also 2-1, so this game has playoff implications,” added Rideout.  “We take pride in improving every week we put on the black and orange uniform and this week is no different.”

“Even though there are several different players on both teams, our group is excited about the opportunity to play the Wildcats again after they knocked us out last year.”

The Wildcats cannot wait to take part in one of the most highlight anticipated games of the season.

“I am excited for our opportunity on Friday night on the big stage and our boys chance to compete at a high level against a great team,” said Wilson.

Equally, the Mavericks are anticipating a tough yet epic battle against the defending champions but hope to steal a win on their opponent’s turf.

“The Mavericks are thrilled to play on Friday night in a cross over game against last year’s champs, and we think it should be a great game with fireworks from both sides,” commented Rideout.

Hunchak photo credit:  Brett Mahura Photography

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