The Yorkton Regional Junior Raiders ran into an offensive juggernaut Sunday afternoon at Century Field, dropping their Regina Minor Football League (RMFL) season opener to the Regina Lakers 56-26.
For the Raiders, Sunday鈥檚 game was a chance for them to work out the kinks and prepare for the rest of the season; something their opponents were able to do last week in a 28-0 win over the Regina Renegades.鈥� It鈥檚 tough to get going and it鈥檚 tough to shake the rust off, especially when you play a team that has played already,鈥� mentioned Junior Raider head coach Al Kyle, adding that although the 30-point loss was not a good thing, they still managed to learn lots about the team. 鈥淲e saw lots of good things, but we saw some things where we need to improve on as well.
鈥淭he big problem was that on most plays we saw 11 out of 12 guys doing things right and one guy maybe doing something a little wrong, but that鈥檚 what the first game of the season is for.鈥�
The first game of the season is also a chance for the coaching staff to see which players will emerge as team leaders for the remainder of the year, and while there is still plenty of time for many players to make themselves known to the coach Kyle and company, two players in particular have already burst forth due to their performances on Sunday afternoon. 鈥淥ur quarterback, Jordin Rusnack, really stepped up,鈥� offered coach Kyle. 鈥淲e threw a lot of plays at him and he definitely stepped up and led the offence which is something you always want a quarterback to do.
鈥淒efensively Tyson Lautamus was a leader and was in on a lot of plays in the backfield and he looked really good out there.鈥�
Next action
The YRHS Junior Raiders (0-1) don鈥檛 have time to think about their opening game of the season as they are back at it today (Wednesday) against the Greenall Junior Griffins (1-0). The game, scheduled for 9:45pm, will take place at Regina鈥檚 Leibel Field.
The next home action for the Junior Raiders will be Sunday when they welcome the Regina Renegades (0-2) to Yorkton. Kickoff for that game is tentatively scheduled for 12:45pm at Century Field.
