A trio of youth football games this past Saturday at Kinsmen Century Field saw three Yorkton teams, the Atom and Peewee Gridders as well as the YRHS Junior Raiders, combine for a 2-1 record on the day.
The Atom Gridders scored 33 straight points and held their opponents scoreless for the third straight game en route to a 33-0 win over the Regina Bombers in the first game of the triple header to improve their Regina Minor Football record to 3-0.
The Peewee Gridders looked to ride a wave of momentum from last week's 50-18 win over the Regina Patriots in Game Two, however that was not to be as the Peewee Gridders fell victim to the Regina Golden Hawks' speed in a 38-25 defeat that saw them fall to 1-2 on the season, while the YRHS Jr. Raiders evened their record at 1-1 thanks to a 46-21 win over the visiting Lumsden Jr. Devils.
Another Atom shutout
The Yorkton Atom Gridders kept pace with the Balgonie Atom Griffins (North) and the Regina Ti-Cats, moving to 3-0 on the season with their third straight shutout, 33-0 over the previously undefeated Regina Bombers.
Garrett Ellis found the end zone three times, once in the air and twice on the ground, including a 70-yard romp to the end zone late in the game to seal the deal for the Atom Gridders.
Dreyden Chyz and quarterback Jaxon Boyda also rushed for a touchdown each in the Atom Gridders second 33-0 win of the season.
Ellis' second touchdown, the 70-yard nail in the Bombers coffin, particularly impressed Atom head coach Jason Boyda and solidified Ellis' nickname in and around the Atom camp. "We call him (Ellis) mini Kory Sheets because he runs like Sheets," offered Boyda. "He's a heck of a football player."
Defensively the pair of Mason Lammers and Kaden Fedak wreaked havoc all game long, crushing the Bombers offence with bone crushing hit after bone crushing hit.
The play of Lammers specifically caught the eye of Boyda. "He's flying around that football field making plays for us on the defence," suggested the Atom head coach. "One of our themes is that you're either making a play or you're wrecking a play and every time Mason Lammers steps on the field that's what he does. He makes a play or wrecks a play.
"He's a headache for offensive coordinators."
Peewee
The Yorkton Peewee Gridders couldn't find a way to contain the lightning speed of the Regina Golden Hawks' dynamic duo of Liam Gray and Kieran Poissant in Game Two of Saturday's football triple header, resulting in a 38-25 loss.
The combination of Gray and Poissant caused problems all game long for the Gridders defence, twice scampering for 60-plus yard touchdowns; something that assistant coach and defensive coordinator for the Peewee Gridders Cody Penrose felt really buried the team. "The problem was the big play," suggested Penrose, continuing, "We were shutting them down well on some of those short dives and outside runs but the big play really got us. There were two drives in a row where in the first play they got a touchdown so that's really what killed us."
Quarterback Jordan Rusnak led the Yorkton offence in the defeat, channeling his inner Darian Durant to rush for two touchdowns, while runningback Dylan Lepowick found the end zone for his lone touchdown of the game on the ground.
Lineman Justin Schendel rounded out the Yorkton scoring, pouncing on a fumble in the end zone, while middle linebacker Steven Smith and defensive end Brad Heskin each had numerous tackles in the game.
Raiders exorcise Devils
The YRHS Jr. Raiders made sure first year head coach Alan Kyle's inaugural game on home soil was a good one, crushing the visiting Lumsden Jr. Devils 46-21 in Regina Minor Football League Bantam division action on Game Three of Saturday's triple header.
Matthew Balysky, younger brother of former Raiders quarterback David Balysky, proved that football intellect and pure athleticism run in the family as the younger Balysky quarterback rushed for three touchdowns and aired another one out to runningback Brody Popowich in the rout.
Popowich also scampered into the end zone for a rushing touchdown to give him one of each in the game, while the final Raiders score came, not from the offence, but the defence, as defensive back Skylar Soldat jumped the route and intercepted the Lumsden pass, running it all the way into the end zone untouched to end all hopes of a Devils comeback. "He made a great break on the ball and really sealed the game for us," said head coach Kyle following the game. "If they had went down the field and scored it would have been a close game, so he sealed the game for us with a great interception for the touchdown."
But Soldat wasn't the only defensive player to impress on the day. Middle linebacker Eric Fookes had a game to remember, making 15 solo tackles and assisting on countless others in the win.
Up next
The next action for all three teams will be on Saturday, September 6 when they all travel to Regina.
The Atom Gridders take on the Regina Kats at 11:00a.m., the Peewee Gridders visit the Regina Huskies at 12:45p.m. and the YRHS Jr. Raiders play the Regina Packers at 2:30p.m.
All games are at Regina's Leibel Field.
