For the second time in their history the Fort McMurray Monarchs are Alberta Football League Champions.
The Monarchs thumped the Central Alberta Bucs 65-7 in the AFL final Saturday night at SMS Equipment Stadium to capture their second title in three years.
“We told ourselves at the start of the year the goal and there were no excuses. We had no six weeks of byes and forfeits lined up so there was no reason for us coming off one week and the semi-final to come out and get it done,” said Monarchs Head Coach Jesse Maddox.
The win capped off a perfect season for the Monarchs. An 8-0 regular season followed by two playoff victories and exercising the demons of last year’s crushing loss in the AFL final to the Calgary Gators.
The Monarchs dominated the game from the get go. Leading 29-0 after the first quarter, the home side never looked back as they were able to shut down the Bucs in all aspects of the game.
“I think that was the first game all season that we put all phases of football and four quarters of football together and kind of took care of business,” said Maddox.
With the AFL Championship now behind them, the Monarchs will put their focus on the National Championship which will be a rematch of the 2016 national game.
Fort McMurray will once again play host to the Greater Toronto Area All-Stars who just like the Monarchs are undefeated on the season.
“They’re obviously amped up, undefeated season and they’ve had a lot of lopsided victories so this should really put together the two best teams in the country,” said Maddox of the All-Stars who beat the Sarnia Imperials 44-7 in the Northern Football Conference final. “On top put some bad blood and some familiar faces together on this game so this one should be a big personal grudge match so I’m looking forward to it.”
The 2016 National game was a back and forth offensive battle with the Monarchs coming away with a 59-45 victory.
The National Championship is schedule for September 15th at SMS Equipment Stadium with kick-off at 5:00 p.m.
NOTES:
Other Monarchs news saw Lineman Dalton Houghton get picked up by the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks. Houghton started the year with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before joining the Monarchs after his release.
“It’s huge. We are now at ten guys in three years signed to the CFL so it shows that we are doing something right here,” said Maddox. “Dalton is a man amongst children out there. I knew at some point he would get another shot and it’s a great opportunity for him to go in there and hopefully make a career out of it.”
