The Fort McMurray Monarchs stumbled out of the gate to start the 2019 season.

For the first time in the team’s history – the Monarchs fell in their season opening contest on Saturday – losing to the Central Alberta Buccaneers by a score of 38-28.

Monarchs Head Coach Kevin Garbuio tells Mix News despite the loss – he was impressed with his team’s offensive showing.

“We probably put up over 300 yards rushing,” Garbuio said. “We were using the play clock – all the little things that we wanted to do. We knew we were undermanned, we had about 26 guys so, we knew we had to control the ball and on offense I felt we did that well.”

The contest was day and night in comparison to last year’s AFL championship – which saw the Monarchs clobber the Bucs 65-7 on route to their second title in three seasons.

For Garbuio, it was also his first career loss as an AFL head coach.

After giving up 38 points, more points than the Monarchs had surrendered in any contest last year, he feels his defense left a lot to be desired.

“We need to do better at the defensive half-back, free safety spots but those are young positions. This is a team that’s kind of in a bit of a transition. We’ll see how we play against them (Central Alberta) when we see them again in a few weeks, but I think there’s a lot of room for improvement, especially on defense.”

Despite the loss, Garbuio notes they were fairly shorthanded on both sides of the ball heading into the game.

“We didn’t have Asante Mizan, no Sean Guihan, so there’s are two big holes on the front end. And on the backend, we were without Christian Steeves and Ron Ackie as well. So, there’s are two big positions that will be upgraded shortly.”

The Monarchs will look to bounce back in their home opener on Saturday against the Airdrie Irish.

Kick off for Saturday’s contest is at 7 p.m. at MacDonald Island.