Axemen getting sharp

The Prince George Bantam Axemen will be looking for redemption this season.
After finishing just out of the playoff contention in the Southern Interior Football Conference the Axemen are ready to begin play in the 2005 season on Sunday at Massey Place Stadium, at 10 a.m. Head coach Tony Reynolds said the team had a lot of rookies this year.
“We’re looking for our vets to step up. We’ve got about eight or nine players coming back. Our running backs and our quarterback is back. We’re rebuilding our offensive line right now. It’s just a matter of getting them some game experience and we’ll go from there,” said Reynolds.
“We have Mike McMaster our quarterback from last year and Jordan Bardsley our running back from last year. Erling Skuggedal our wide out from last year. We’ve got a lot speed coming back.”
The Axemen will build their offence as the season progresses.
“We’re looking at defence - an aggressive defence to be our strength. With the young guys we have, they will fill a gap out there,” said Reynolds.
The Axemen will open play against the Vernon Wolverines who have hosted a preseason tournament already.
“We’re going in blindsided and it usually takes a couple of games to get things going. We should be ready. But again there will be lots of rookies and there should be some mistakes,” said Reynolds.
“It’s a very competitive league and what we’re looking at is to expose the boys to a high calibre of football especially the ones who haven’t played before.”
The Axemen will play nine regular season games this year with five at home and four on the road. There are six teams in the SIFC this year including PG, Vernon, Salmon Arm and three from Kelowna.