The Central Alberta Buccaneers were coming into their game against the Lloydminster Vandals fresh on the heels of their first win of the season against the Airdrie Irish.
The Bucs’ would continue where they left off against the Irish — once again piling on the score in the first half.
“We got our flow pretty early. First years were making plays and guys were getting open,” Quarterback Brandon Leyh said.
Preston Bailey would get the game going after he caught a 16-yard catch from starting Leyh, who returned to the pivot after Judah Knip got the start last week.
Josh Blanchard would notch two more touchdowns on his year, Bailey would another on his, Ben Hnatiuk would walk a score in, Cam Heslop would score, Tanner Olstad returned a kick-off for the second straight week and Ashton Jones would grab an interception leading to a touchdown late in the quarter.
Leyh credited the first-half success to the guys up front.
“Our offensive line has been fantastic all year. Even in our big loss against Fort Mac, our line played incredible. We had time to throw the ball — we just weren’t connecting. Today I had as much time as I needed,” Leyh said.
Quarterback Mike Holman scored the only Vandals’ touchdown in the half — leading to a 57-7 score at the half.
Somewhat surprisingly, it would be the Vandals who would steal the first score of the second half after Jordan Moss caught a 25-yard Holman toss — putting the score to 57-13.
The Bucs’ would have the quick answer though after Knip, who was inserted for the second half, found Hnatiuk for his second score of the game, pushing the sizeable lead to 64-13.
The Vandals would continue to show life in the fourth quarter, however, after Holman scrambled out of the pocket and ran in his second score of the game, putting a small dent into the Bucs’ 64-19 lead.
That would be the close as the Vandals would get through and the Bucs’ would close out the game, bringing their early season record to 2-1.
Leyh said he and Knip will continue to share time in the pivot.
“Even two years ago. It was about 50-50 for the most part. Me and Judah get along really well and he is going to get in the game a lot. He will probably get in more than I will,” he said
The Bucs play June 23rd on the road and then come back home July 7th against St. Albert.
“I haven’t watched any film but I understand St. Albert is pretty good as well,” Leyh said. “That should be a test for us.”
