Gators Start Season With A Win

U14 Division Gators 41 - Oilers 18

Strong start for the U14 Moose Jaw Gators as they defeated the Estevan Oilers 41 - 18 on Saturday night in Kinsmen Moose Jaw Minor Football action.

Despite being in the Gators’ jaws the Oilers didn’t give up with the Estevan bench alive and cheering throughout the entire game.

“It was a learning experience for us once again. The start of every season is once again we don’t know what we’re up against because we don’t have any film footage,” Oilers head coach Kelly Guertin said.

The Oilers are a young team being polished.

“We’ve got a lot of first year players here. Some who are really new. They’ve never played football. Some who just moved up from the younger levels. We have a lot of work to do with them,” Guertin said.

He had no problem with the age of the team seeing it as an opportunity to train them properly.

He sees the year as one of opportunity for the Oilers.

“ I think we have a chance of moving up. This first game is an eye-opener.”

Asked about the Oilers defence that could be very tough Guertin said it was his “pride and joy. I love my defence. They’ve really turned around from last year.”

The Oilers also have a couple of players who showed they were able to run the ball.

“We acquired a couple of players who are really, really phenomenal,”

There was a lot of happiness in the Gators post game team huddle. It was difficult for the coaches to picking the stars of the game following the strong team effort.

“It was a great night tobacco playing football. I had a lot of fun. It’s been two weeks of work. To see the kids come out to perform and do their best is always exciting,” Gators head coach Jordan Taylor said.

Taylor said he wasn’t surprised by how good the Gators are this season.

“We had some returning players. We had some good leaders out there.”

Taylor said despite the lopsided score the Oilers were no pushover.

“Estevan came out here and they gave a really great effort. Proceeded to see these guys come to town. We’re excited to see these guys grow and improve it’s good for the league.”

“They’ve got some speed out there which is exciting to see.”

He said the team is starting to grow.

“Our leaders came out and they showed they wanted to play this kind of football. We said right from the get go they get to decide what type of football team we’re going to be this year and I think they showed that,” Taylor said.