Raiders Escape Falcons Clutches
The playoffs are still weeks away but it didn’t seem that way as the U14 Raiders and the Weyburn Falcons met up on Saturday evening.
Playing a game many thought would be a blowout the Falcons swooped in on Elks Field and game up just shy snatching a victory.
It was a game that went down to the final minute of play but in the end the Raiders managed to pull off a single point 20 - 19 victory.
This after Weyburn had just scored a touchdown giving them a seemingly insurmountable lead with two minutes to go.
The Raiders would pull off a long passing play with a passing play and long run down the sidelines to make the score 19 - 18 in Weyburn’s favour.
The Raiders would call a time out and then go on to score a two point conversion.
A play they had called just minutes before other than to have the Falcons stop the two point conversion dead in its tracks.
Despite the loss Weyburn Falcons’ head coach Brad Hillstead is ecstatic with how well his team played.
“I thought it was a really exciting football. I thought it was excellent game right from the start to the very end. As you saw they took it right to one minute left it was a one point game you really can’t ask for much more than that,” Hillstead said.
Asked where the strength has come from for Weyburn given that in the past has had some anemic teams versus Moose Jaw he said work.
“We’ve been working at it. We’ve got some good young gutsy coming up. We’ve got a couple of good returning players. We’ve got a really good core of players that have been here for six years.”
The Falcons quarterback was a standout not just with his athleticism but his ability to spot the blitz and react properly to avoid it.
He also has the ability to pass or run when necessary.
“We didn’t talk about it but at the end he was running the clock down for us. His football IQ is just great.”
Asked about how impressed with the team’s performance he said “extremely.”
“As I said they shouldn’t hang their heads over a performance like that. It’s one big play that changed the day on us. But all around I saw a lot of good stuff.”
“It was a rollercoaster for sure” Hillstead said about doing the seemingly impossible stopping the Raiders on a two point conversion and moved to what seemed like a sure win a similar two point conversion a couple of minutes later costing the Falcons what had appeared to be a sure win.
He said the game bodes well for Weyburn Falcons football.
“The kids are upset with the loss but they seem to have a fun time out there on the field today.
The Weyburn bench was animated every time they scored a touchdown as if it was a Super Bowl victory.
While Weyburn was ecstatic with how well they played in loss the Moose Jaw Raiders was not happy with their play despite the victory.
“It was good. It was stressful we kind of kicked ourselves in the butt with a lot of penalties. We’d have good plays and a penalty would bring it back. We just couldn’t help it after that,” Zachary Klyne head coach of the Raiders said.
Despite the past where the Raiders would dominate play Klyne said the game films revealed the Falcons would be a tough team.
“We knew they could put up points. Just on offence we kept on getting stupid penalties throughout the game.”
Asked about if he was satisfied with the team’s play he said “not really.”
“We could be better. A close game like that is not fun for us. Stressful for the coach but fun for the kids. We could have done better.”
Why he went for the two points and not. The single point he said it comes down to the team.
“I trust our guys on offence I didn’t want to kick anything.”
It led to what seemed like a game losing decision that in a couple of minutes boomeranged into a single point victory,
In the second attempt Klyne took a time out and asked who on the offence wanted it and when running back Seiferling put his hand up he got the play and managed to bootleg five yards to the victory.
He gave a shoutout to running back Chaysen Seiferling for stepping forward.
