The Yorkton Atom Gridders suffered their first loss of the season back on September 12 in the form of a 34-0 shutout defeat to the Bears.
But instead of feeling bad for themselves the Atom Gridders simply accepted the fact that they needed to work harder and, after a strong week of practices, were back at it in the hopes of remaining in one of the top three spots to finish off the regular season. 鈥�
They did just that as well, putting together their strongest offensive game of the season in a 45-12 blowout win over the Regina Lions on Sunday afternoon in Regina. 鈥淚t was a strong team effort,鈥� offered Atom Gridder head coach Ryan Effa following the game 鈥淭he kids worked extremely hard in practice after a loss; it鈥檚 the first time we had to work after a loss and the kids came to practice motivated and hungry instead of down on themselves and it showed today on the field.
鈥淥ur execution was strong, our defence made solid tackles and it was a good team effort win for sure.鈥�
Justin Adam led the way with three touchdowns in the win and Chris Cole and Jake Farrell both found the promised land once each, while Noah Schneider and Josh Forrester kept the Lion offence in check for much of the game.
The win ensures that the Atom Gridders (5-1-0) will finish in third place in the 13-team Regina Minor Football Atom Division, one point back of the Bears (5-0-1) and two back of the league-leading Eskimos (6-0-0).
For now the Ti-Cats (4-2-0) and Alouettes (4-1-0) are tied for fourth with eight points while the Gaitors (3-1-1) remain in sixth place, however both the Al鈥檚 and the Gaitors have one game remaining in the regular season.
The Balgonie Atom Griffins (2-3-0), Thunderbirds (2-4-0), Canadians (2-3-0) and Lions (2-4-0) sit seven thru to tenth with four points each while the Badgers sit in 11th with a record of 1-5-0.
Both the Kats and Bengals finished the regular season with identical 0-6-0 records.
The Atom Gridders now wait to see who their Bowl Game opponent will be. Depending on the results of Tuesday鈥檚 Alouettes/Canadians and Gaitors/Balgonie (results unavailable at press time) the Atom Gridders could end up playing the Ti-Cats, Gaitors or Alouettes.
