GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta.- An Alberta high school football team mourning the death of four of its players in a car accident managed to dig deep and win their first game since the tragedy, trouncing their competition to advance to the league championship.

The 40-0 victory by the Grande Prairie Composite High School Warriors over the Sexsmith Sabres in the Mighty Peace Football League semi-final comes a week after the four died in a car accident.

A fifth player, Zachary Judd, is in Edmonton hospital in serious but stable condition from the crash.

"The whole game, I couldn't get him (Zachary) off my mind. To be honest, I was afraid I was going to break down in the middle of the field," said Louis Judd, Zachary's brother, who also plays for the Warriors.

Walter Borden-Wilkins, 15, Tanner Hildebrand, 15, Matthew Deller, 16, and Vince Stover, also 16, died a week ago when police say a pickup truck slammed into their car.

Brenden Holubowich, 21, faces various charges in connection with the crash, including drunk driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident. He is due to appear in court again on Monday to face the allegations against him.

Close to 1,000 people braved strong winds and cold temperatures to support the team for Saturday morning's game. Fans were quieter than they'd typically be for a playoff game, and the match began with a moment of silence.

There were memorials with photos of the four dead boys under the scoreboard beside the team benches. A silent auction was set up with goods donated from local businesses to raise money for the dead teens' families.

The Warriors' coach, Rick Gilson, said it was particularly emotional at the start of the game, but he said the players did their best to keep their minds on their tasks.

"During the moment of silence, I started to lose it. And I was hoping, man, I hope they're not," Gilson admitted after the game.

"Then once it was kickoff, it was a really focused group to just get there and get it going."

Support for the grieving team poured into Grande Prairie from outside the community in the past week. Alberta's two Canadian Football League teams, the Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders, announced Thursday they will stick the logo of the Warriors on their helmets for their final two regular season games.

Brian Ridgeway, a Montreal Alouettes player who grew up in Grande Prairie, will also be sporting a Warriors logo on his helmet. Other high school and minor football league teams across Alberta have also honoured the dead Warriors this past week with moments of silence during their games.

Gilson said the team went straight to practice Friday night, only hours after the last of the funerals for the teens was held.

"They really, really were dialled in that they were going to do right by the boys, and by themselves and the community," Gilson said.

"And when you come out and you see this community turn out like this, that's a lot for these 14, 15 and 16-year-olds to take in."

Judd said the community support meant a lot for him, too.

"There's such a big crowd and they're all cheering for my brother and his fallen teammates. It means a lot," Judd said.

A community memorial service is scheduled for Sunday.