ESTEVAN - It was another busy weekend for the teams in Penta Completions Estevan Minor Football.
The Estevan Coldwell Banker Choice Real Estate U12 Chargers football team ran their way to another impressive victory Saturday afternoon, defeating the Moose Jaw Lions 32-14 at the Dana Quewezance Memorial Field at Woodlawn Athletic Park.
The win not only improved the Chargers record to 4-1, but it avenged their only loss so far this season, which came against the Lions in the opening weekend of the season.
“We not only had another gut check game against a very strong opponent, we once again found a way to will through it and pull it off in the second half,” said head coach Matt Schell. “This is just a good football team we have. We have a really good group of kids.”
He described it as a treat to coach this team due to their resiliency.
Estevan trailed 14-12 at half time, but racked up 20 unanswered points in the second half. All of Estevan’s touchdowns came on the ground.
Schell said he wasn’t concerned that the team would have a letdown after they beat the Moose Jaw Spartans the week before. He described the Lions as a carbon copy of the Chargers.
“They’re big, they’re physical, they run the ball. They tackle. We dealt with a lot of kids getting nicked up and banged up,” said Schell.
He noted Kaleb Crossman and TJ Thomspon have a warrior’s mentality on the offensive side of the ball, while Taylor Lisafeld stepped up with some great catches, including a 50-yard reception late in the game.
The defence forced seven turnovers, which provided a big boost to the team.
He also praised the coaches on all sides of the ball for their commitment to the players, and all players for putting the time in.
Estevan will host the Spartans on Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. at Woodlawn in the final game of the regular season. Both teams have 4-1 records.
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The Estevan Lions Club U14 Oilers gave up a couple of early touchdowns in a 28-8 loss to the Weyburn Falcons Saturday in Weyburn.
Coach Paul Duncan said the Oilers had a miscue on their coverage on the first score, which allowed Weyburn to make a nice run to the outside. On Estevan’s first position, the Oilers lost the ball on a high snap, which gave the Falcons excellent field position.
The score was 19-0 at half-time.
“We did fight back a little bit. We did get a nice touchdown run after a really nice return from Liam Thompson,” said Duncan.
Estevan punched the ball in on a 10-yard-run by Liam Mitchell. Thompson then scored on the two-point convert.
Duncan noted that Weyburn has been able to put up big points against other opponents so far this season, but the Elecs defence played “quite strong,” limiting Weyburn’s passing game.
“Besides a few great runs by their running back on some missed coverage by us, we were able to hem them in as well,” said Duncan.
The Oilers will wrap up the regular season by playing the Falcons again on Oct. 10 at Woodlawn, starting at noon.
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The Estevan Kinette Club U18 Viragos dropped an 80-0 decision to the Yorkton Lady Gridders Saturday in Yorkton.
Coach Mark Tribiger was pleased with how they came together as a team, and the effort was there, but they couldn’t get anything going against the Gridders, who are a good team, Tribiger said.
Tribiger noted the Gridders kept handing the ball off to a lineman that Estevan couldn’t stop.
“We had a couple of first downs on offence, and we had some stops on defence,” said Tribiger.
The Viragos had another quarterback go down during the game, too, so they’ll be playing with pivot No. 5 in their next game against Regina at Woodlawn on Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. The two teams played in the opening weekend of the season, and Tribiger said it was a good game.
The Viragos will also have a pet food donation drive for the Estevan Humane Society at the game.
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The Estevan Power Dodge U10 Cudas hosted a controlled scrimmage against Weyburn on Sunday at Woodlawn. It was a chance for players on both teams to gain experience in a game setting with nine players on a full field. Typically U10 teams play with six on the field at a time, on a smaller field, and in mini games. The game against Weyburn was a fun environment for both teams.
