For the first time in their four year history as members of the Moose Jaw High School Football League the YRHS Raiders will not be competing in the league championship.
Instead, the Raiders will be sitting at home wondering what happened as they squandered a 21-point lead and lost on a last minute touchdown, falling 44-39 to the Central Cyclones in MJHSFL semi-final action Saturday afternoon at Moose Jaw鈥檚 Guthridge Field. 鈥淚t鈥檚 awful, you know? Losing is tough, but like that, it鈥檚 even worse,鈥� offered a dejected YRHS Raider head coach Roby Sharpe following his team鈥檚 five point loss. 鈥淲e had the game won, and then we didn鈥檛.鈥�
Things started off well for the Raiders Saturday afternoon, as the Raiders, after several penalties by either team, scored on their opening drive when Caleb Bymak ran the ball for a six yard touchdown plunge and a 7-0 Raider lead with 9:15 left in the first quarter.
A 31-yard field goal by Ben Koroluk made it a 10-point Yorkton lead after the first half, however a Levi Kelly nine yard field goal for the Cyclones cut the lead down to 10-3.
A five yard Bymak run resulted in another Yorkton touchdown before quarterback Nick Payne found receiver Jon Nagy down the right sideline for a 49-yard catch and run touchdown and a 24-3 Yorkton lead with just 5:16 left in the first half.
Things were looking good for the Raiders until Central鈥檚 Jonah Branning came up with a pair of big scores late in the half, first taking the handoff from quarterback Ryan Reidy and running 18 yards untouched into the end zone with 2:59 left in the first half to make it 24-10 Yorkton.
Central defensive back Aidan Coleman picked off Nick Payne with 1:36 left in the half, resulting in the Cyclones getting the ball back with less than two minutes to go before the end of the half. With time running out, Cyclone quarterback Reidy hit the speedy Branning for a 47 yard touchdown pass with just 28 seconds left in the half to cut the Yorkton lead from 24-10 to 24-17; a score that remained through to halftime as Payne鈥檚 Hail Mary pass at the end of the quarter was once again picked off, this time by Branning.
A missed field goal by Koroluk made it 25-17 Raiders midway through the third quarter, before Central鈥檚 Aidan Coleman scored his first touchdown of the game, taking the Reidy pass and going 51 yards to the end zone to cut the Yorkton lead to 25-23.
A successful two point conversion for Central brought the teams even for the first time since the opening kickoff, however the Raiders would regain the lead before the end of the quarter as Bymak would cap off a seven play, 57 yard drive with a two yard touchdown run to give the Regional a 32-25 lead after three quarters.
Branning鈥檚 third touchdown of the game, this time a three yard catch, once again brought Central even at 32-32 before Popowich gave the Raiders yet another seven point advantage at 39-32 with just 4:16 remaining in the game.
Another Branning touchdown made the score 39-38 with just 2:30 left in the game, but a failed two point conversion meant the Raiders retained their one point lead.
The Cyclones then did what everyone thought they would do; they tried an onside kick that failed, giving the Raiders the ball with little time left on the clock. A quick two and out gave the Cyclones a chance to take the lead, however Matthew Mandziuk immediately got the ball back for the Raiders when he picked off Reidy with 1:35 left in the game to set up what looked to be a possible game ending Raider drive.
Then disaster struck as the Raiders ran just under a minute off of the clock before a bum tap play by the combination of Payne and centre Jed Stachura backfired, resulting in a fumble and a turnover on downs.
A quick drive by the Cyclones aided by a couple of Raider penalties put the home side at first and goal and with 16 seconds left the Cyclones took the lead when Branning found the end zone for his fifth and final touchdown of the game and a 44-39 Central lead.
Sixteen seconds later and it was all over, as the Central Cyclones came from behind to stun the Regional Raiders and oust them from the 2015 MJHSFL playoffs. 鈥淲e went up early and sometimes when you go up early you tend to sit on your heels a little bit and we found ourselves doing that early in the game,鈥� offered Sharpe after the game. 鈥淭he game was up and down and back and forth for the entire 48 minutes and you have to give Central credit because they battled hard and never gave up.鈥�
As for the untimely fumble that resulted in the Cyclones鈥� final touchdown drive, Sharpe said that while it was unlucky, it certainly wasn鈥檛 the reason the Raiders lost the game. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 blame it on one play because we shouldn鈥檛 have let them back in the game in the first place,鈥� said Sharpe. 鈥淲e were up 21 points at one point, but we just let it slip away.鈥�
The Raiders will now get set for their end-of-season awards banquet where they鈥檒l say goodbye to eight graduating players while the Cyclones will take on the A.E. Peacock Tornadoes in the MJHSFL Championship game on Saturday.
