ESTEVAN - It was another busy weekend for local minor football teams.
The Estevan Lions Club U14 Oilers travelled to Yorkton Saturday and dropped a 35-16 decision to the Yorkton Gridders.
Estevan started the game with 24 players, and due to a couple of injuries, they had some players who were forced to play on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
“Yorkton came to play. They were really prepared for the game. They were still able to run the ball against us quite well, especially with the large offensive line that they had,” said Oilers head coach Paul Duncan.
Payton Tendler had a long interception return for a touchdown, even though he was playing the defensive end position. Cooper Pukas had the Oilers other touchdown, following a length run by Liam Thompson, who carried the ball to the Yorkton two-yard-line.
With the season now into the second half, Duncan said the Oilers will continue to persevere through the lower roster numbers.
“We’ll just keep fighting the way we are,” said Duncan. “I have complete trust in our players, and I fully believe in them to be able to turn the ship around for themselves.”
Estevan will visit Weyburn on Oct. 2.
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The Estevan Kinette Club U18 Viragos female football team dropped a 42-0 decision to the Moosomin Generals Saturday afternoon at Woodlawn, but coach Mark Tribiger said the score was not reflective of the efforts of the defence.
Three of the Generals’ touchdowns came off of turnovers by the Viragos offence, including two interceptions returned for majors. One Generals score was on a punt return.
“Our defence played amazing,” said Tribiger.
He praised Trinity Canton and Hailey Duke for their efforts on defence throughout the game. They combined for a lot of tackles.
“The defence was pretty much lights out. They had a lot of two-and-outs last night, and that’s what was keeping us in it,” said Tribiger.
Tribiger noted their quarterback was injured during the game, forcing the Viragos to try players from other positions. Offence will be emphasized at practice this week.
The Viragos will travel to Yorkton to play the Lady Gridders.
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The Estevan Power Dodge U10 Cudas played in their final jamboree of the season Sunday afternoon in Moose Jaw.
The two Estevan teams – Estevan A and Estevan 1 – were joined by two teams from Weyburn and three from Moose Jaw. Coach Kevin Mortenson noted they were down to 10 players on each team this week, giving kids the chance to play on both offence and defence.
“I love seeing kids being able to play both sides of the ball, and the kids were excited to play both sides of the ball,” said Mortenson.
Mason Lesy won the hard hat as the hardest working player on Cudas 1, while Parker Moffatt was the hardest working player on Cudas A.
Team A also had to play three games with how the schedule worked out, while Team 1 played twice, so some players from Team 1 joined Team A.
Estevan still has a couple of games remaining this season. They will play Weyburn in a controlled scrimmage on Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. at Woodlawn. Each team will have nine players on the field at once, and will play on a full field.
The other game is an intersquad contest two nights later, also at Woodlawn.
