Vikings Win Game One Of Bounty Bowl

“They’re not going to catch him, oh baby!” Bryan Boys shouted excitedly over the public address system at Elks Field.

With 24 seconds remaining in the first half the Raiders quarterback Brooks Mihalicz ran into the end zone making the score 16 - 12 for the Vikings.

It seemed the Moose Jaw Minor Football U14 matchup between the Raiders and the Vikings had its TSN Play of the Game Moment.

The turning point.

But it was not to be.

With 5.6 seconds left in the half Vikings speedster Nelson Karal would score a touchdown making the score 24 - 12 for the Vikings.

In the ensuing second half kickoff the Vikings would run the ball in for a touchdown - what most likely became the TSN highlight play of the game.

The Vikings had a massive lead they never gave up going on to win 52 - 18.

Raiders quarterback Brooks Mihalicz (left) tries to get around the Vikings Brylee Artavia - MJ Independent photo

“Well it was a tough one,” Raiders head coach Zach Klyne told MJ Independent in the post game interview.

“We had a good game last week and I think the boys and girls came in a little too confident this week and they took it to us. They smacked us in the mouth from the beginning to the end,” he said.

The head coach said the loss was not the players’ faults but rather the coaching staff (Klyne) improperly preparing the team.

He agreed the minute of play at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half was important in the game’s final result.

“The last 30 seconds of the first half we knew they were gonna go deep. They didn’t have anything else. There was no time. They opened up the second half of the game with a kick return touchdown and morale was low after that one.”

The Raiders Joshua Fudge (left) battles the Vikings Aiden Oddy Yakiwchuk on the line of scrimmage - MJ Independent photo

“They’re a good team over there. We knew coming in they were going to be good. We played kind of a sleeper last week in Estevan. We just had a lazy week of practice. I will chop it down to that. Coaches’ fault.”

He said the poor practices, encouraged lazy play, which allowed the Vikings to come out and hit them hard and it was something the Raiders could not recover from.

The coming week will see the Raiders practice harder as they attempt to come back and win the second game against the Vikings.

The Raiders Chaysen Seiferling (center) runs the ball - MJ Independent photo

For Vikings head coach Allan Hender said the Vikings’ win could be chalked up to goals and executing to get those goals.

“We reached those goals and it was fantastic,” Hender said.

Hender agreed the last 25 seconds of the first half changed the table in the Vikings favour.

“Coming out and scoring right away in the second half was one of our goals. And we were able to utilize our speed to do that.”

He said he didn’t look at the clock when it came to the game because they needed to be aware of what’s going on around them. You need to be careful because it wouldn’t take much for the Raiders get right back in it,

“We just wanted to make sure we stay disciplined and we were able to do that,” he said.

“I really didn’t know what to expect. They came out fast. They came out hard. Real hard off the start and once again with only the second week in It’s hard to keep up with it. But once we got going that’s the way it is,” Hender said.

The Raiders bring down the Vikings Logan Florent - MJ Independent photo

A major portion of the Vikings ability to score has to deal with their working on blocking at the present time.

“Right now, we just need to maintain our focus on blocking throughout the play. Our running backs are running hard and our receivers they have some explosive ability too.”

This week’s practices will focus upon staying on the basics and discipline and building upon them in order to grow the team.