ESTEVAN - Lots of football games were served up in Estevan from Friday to Sunday as part of the annual Football Weekend in Estevan.
All five levels of the sport had an opportunity to showcase their skills. All games were played at the Dana Quewezance Memorial Field at Woodlawn Athletic Park.
The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs lost 86-0 to the Yorkton Regional High School Gridders Friday night. Yorkton led 58-0 at half-time and added several more scores in the second half, including three defensive touchdowns.
Elecs head coach Mark Schott said Yorkton is likely one of the top teams in the province and they forced the Elecs into many mistakes and turnovers.
“Yorkton made us pay for our mistakes as they scored on multiple interceptions, recovered fumbles deep in our territory, and followed up with scores immediately after those fumble recoveries.”
The Elecs will look to bounce back Friday night in Weyburn.
Three games for Penta Completions Estevan Minor Football teams were played Saturday in Estevan, starting with the Estevan Coldwell Banker Choice Real Estate U12 Chargers, who dominated in the second half on their way to a 58-27 victory over the Moose Jaw Spartans.
Moose Jaw led 21-13 at half-time, thanks in large part to two touchdowns in 12 seconds midway through the second quarter, one coming on an offensive drive and the other on an interception return for a touchdown.
Estevan scored on their opening drive of the second half and rattled off 39 unanswered points to take a 52-21 lead. Each team scored once in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Coach Matt Schell was pleased with the effort, a week after losing 28-12 at home to the Moose Jaw Lions.
“I told our offensive line [at half time] that we haven’t really performed the last couple of games to the potential that I see in practice,” said Schell.
The offensive line, particularly Mason Lesy and Cam Locken, was great in the second half, while running backs TJ Thompson (five touchdowns) and Waylon Mantei (four touchdowns) had big games.
“We actually opened up the air attack here today. We had, I believe, three passing touchdowns today by Ryder Mantei, who stepped in at quarterback,” said Schell.
Nash Faber had a strong game defensively, and everyone on both sides of the ball came to play in the second half.
“We were making it tough for those guys all game, and I’m proud of all of those defensive players. I know I run the defence, but I’m really impressed with coach James Haagsman and Austin Haukeness, and how they run that defence.”
The Chargers’ next game is Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. against the Weyburn Ravens at Woodlawn.
The next game was between the Estevan Lions Club U14 Oilers and the Swift Current Steelers, a game Swift Current won 29-0. The game was called after three quarters because of a series of injuries for the Oilers that left them with 20 players.
Coach Paul Duncan was pleased with how they played up to that point.
“Their tenacity was amazing. We played against a team that was more physically capable than we were, but with size, numbers and their just sheer physicality of how they played, our team kept going in for the fight every time,” said Duncan.
They were really strong, especially on defence, while the offence had a good effort.
Since the team has 12 players on the field at a time, the Chargers decided to halt the game at the end of the third quarter to prevent any further injuries.
“We can run kids two ways, but at that point in time, with us already having a smaller roster, there’s not a lot of kids who had opportunity to play in the spots they would have to go play in, which would set them up for more opportunity to possibly be injured,” said Duncan.
The Oilers next game is Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. against the league-leading Moose Jaw Vikings at Woodlawn. Then they will host the Weyburn Ravens on Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Duncan said a few players are expected to return against the Vikings, and a new player has joined the team.
They are still accepting players.
The action concluded Sunday with the Estevan Kinette Club U18 Viragos facing the Yorkton Gridders in a female football game. Yorkton won 70-0, but Mark Tribiger was still pleased with the team’s performance, especially defensively.
“They just got tired out from not being able to get off the field,” said Tribiger.
Amanda March played her first game at middle linebacker and had a great game, he said, and Lily Hauber played well, too.
Yorkton is going to be one of the best teams in the league this year. Their defence is stellar and they have some good players on offence, too.
Their next game against Regina will be a better measuring stick of where the Viragos will be this season.
Quarterback Sarah Greening played well but couldn’t connect with the receivers. On special teams, they didn’t allow any scores, which was a relief after last season.
The weekend concluded with the U10 jamboree on Sunday, with the host Estevan Power Dodge Cudas split into two teams, and they were joined by three teams from Weyburn and three from Moose Jaw. The field was divided in four sections with four mini games.
The Estevan teams had a scrimmage against each other, and each team had a game against a Weyburn team and a Moose Jaw team. All players tried hard and had a fun time, said coach Kevin Mortenson.
Mortenson said he has seen a lot of strides in the kids’ games this season.
“It’s a great feeling knowing these kids are eager to be down on the football field and … eager to play and learn a new sport. These kids are going to go right through high school and hopefully farther [in football],” said Mortenson.
The Cudas still have jamborees in Weyburn and Moose Jaw before the season is finished.
