It might have only been an exhibition game, and a modified one at that, but the Airdrie Irish are happy to have tasted victory in their first game of 2022.

Saturday afternoon (May 7) the Irish took on the Central Alberta Buccaneers from Red Deer in an exhibition contest to officially open the new fieldhouse at ME Global Stadium in Lacombe.  A combination of strong offensive and defensive play gave the Irish a 24 - 12 win.  The modified game didn't include special teams play and quarterbacks weren't live in the pocket, but the Irish were excited to be back on the field in advance of the 2022 regular season.

According to Irish President and running-back Connor Lutz, both the Irish and the Bucs ran base packages and rotated players through various positions in order to evaluate the roster in advance of the season opener.

Offensively for Airdrie, quarterback Josh Williams threw four touchdown passes and was a standout in the game.  Sam Haeni was also impressive with one touchdown receiving as well as multiple deep passes behind the Buccaneer's defense. James Balsdon was another big part of the Irish's offense, hauling in two touchdown receptions. 

On defense, Max Lacroix and Xavier Dalton each intercepted a pass against the Bucs with Dalton returning his 50 yards to the Buccaneer's one-yard line.  The run defense was led by Andre Sarafinchan who made multiple stops behind the Buc's line of scrimmage. 

Training camp has wrapped up for the Irish and now they'll continue preparing for the start of the Alberta Football League regular season on June 4th and another meeting with the Buccaneers on their home field in Airdrie.  

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