Vikings Spoil Gators Debut

The Vikings came from behind and defeated the Gators in Saturday evening’s Kinsmen Moose Jaw Minor Football League’s U14 matchup.

It was an ending, however, that shouldn’t have been taken for granted.

“There was some stress there for a little bit. We didn’t know quite where we were going to start off,” Allan Hender head coach of the Vikings said.

The Gators lead 16 - 8 at halftime with the Vikings walking off the field with a 28 - 16 final score just two quarters of football later.

The Vikings Kallen Berner (left) misses on a tackle attempt against the Gators replacement quarterback Jax Throssell - MJ Independent photo

The Vikings would bring out the running game marching down the field to capture the victory.

“We had a few good passes, but really we just buckled down and kept discipline and worked hard,” Hender said, adding “it’s hard to keep up with us we’ve got a lot of speed.”

He sss as if he was not surprised by the Gators strong play - especially defensively.

“I’m not surprised at all. First off coast Harkness does a great job. We knew they have some returning players who could play out there. We know they made some good draft picks as well. they’ll be back we’ll have to deal with them once again as well.”

Hender said the key to the Vikings victory was working hard and keeping the ball on the ground.

He said the big highlight for the team this year will be watching the players progress. They have some young players on the team. They have already shown some great abilities and have moved along and their skill sets.

Nelson Karal of the Vikings is hauled down after a long reception play - MJ Independent photo

For Gators head coach Corey Harkness the final score in no way reflected what the team was trying to do and accomplished.

The rebranded Moose Jaw Mafia squad to the Gators had so far been successful.

“The Gators are back. I had some players I never played before and we had fun. We should we could play with any team and this team (Vikings) is a strong team so I’m glad we played against them,” Harkness said.

The reason for the rebranding was the poor contrast between the numbers and the colours of the sweaters, making it hard to read what team members were involved in plays.

Asked about the Gators defence Harkness described it as “unreal.”

“Especially in the first half. The Vikings have a three headed monster in that backfield that I think is going to give teams a lot of trouble, but our defence handled them,” Harkness said.

The Vikings running helped the Gators miss a couple tackles in the second half, but nevertheless, the Gators defence continued to show strength.

There was a major interception late in the fourth quarter, which seemed to breeze some life into the Gators, just as they were fading out at the end of the game.

“Jack Gorchynski caught that on a tipped ball and then took a lick going out of bounds but that’s football. The game could turn and we like that,” he said.

Harkness said the team It’s going to be working on some blocking schemes to help their offence at an upcoming practice.

Due to the weight classifications and no inaugural female football team the Gators have two girls playing tough positions on the offensive line.

“They’re coming along quite well…It’s fun to watch on the sidelines them support each other. When they get into a game, they are excited. There’s a smile ear to ear,” he said.

Harkness said the two girls enjoy playing offensive line because “they wanted to be there.”

In the end though it’s all about player development and hopefully bring some along to the high school level if they so choose.

“I’m looking forward to the kids learning and having fun. This is my final year with Moose Jaw minor football…I just want these kids to enjoy football so they move on to the higher levels.”