Hopefully next time we see them, which would be the playoffs, I鈥檇 like to play them with our entire roster, with everybody healthy and with us having a balanced attack...
鈥� Jason Boyda
Offensive coordinator, Sr. Raiders
Injuries and absences left the YRHS Sr. Raiders with but one option in Saturday afternoon鈥檚 43-36 loss to the Central Cyclones in Moose Jaw High School Football League action 鈥� air the ball out and hope that the talented Raider receivers can come up with the big plays. 鈥淲e were missing several key guys, (Tyrone) Munro and (Brody) Popowich were gone with injuries, (Caleb) Bymak and (Ben) Koroluk were in Halifax at the Student Leadership Conference, so we didn鈥檛 really have anyone to run the ball,鈥� YRHS Raider offensive coordinator Jason Boyda told Yorkton This Week. 鈥淎ll we could do was let Nick (Payne) air it out and hope someone in orange and white would come down with the ball.鈥�
That strategy nearly worked too, as quarterback Nick Payne did indeed air it out, completing 20-of-33 passes for 468 yards, finding Matthew Mandziuk twice for big score touchdowns while hitting Jon Nagy once for a six point score. 鈥淣ick Payne and the receivers came through big time. Nick had 468 yards passing and our receivers made some big plays so hats off to those guys,鈥� said Boyda, continuing, 鈥淭hey executed our game plan on Saturday to a 鈥楾鈥�.
鈥淯nfortunately we just came up a little bit short at the end.鈥�
The reason the Raiders lost was, according to Boyda, simple: no running game meant that Central were able to focus solely on stopping the air attack. 鈥淲e were one dimensional on Saturday so basically what they (Central) were able to do defensively was plan for our passing game,鈥� offered Boyda, who was acting as head coach for the game as Roby Sharpe was unable to attend the game due to work commitments. 鈥淲e went empty, so we had no running backs in the backfield and so what they did was they blitzed and brought more guys than we had for protection.
鈥淲e were able to capitalize a little bit on them with our quick game and our passing game, however a couple of times when we were going a little more vertical they were able to pressure Payne.鈥�
Boyda said that at the high school level a team has to be able to mix up their offence instead of relying on just one thing. 鈥淭here is a time in the game when you need to get physical and ground it and pound it, which is something that has been our style for years. Not having that, it did hurt us a bit,鈥� said Boyda. 鈥淥ur receivers made up for it and so did Nick, but we really did need a running back to keep them honest.鈥�
The assistant coach and offensive coordinator then mentioned that while the Raiders were certainly shorthanded all game, the Cyclones also more than deserved the win. 鈥淗ats off to Central, they did a really good job of executing how they were going to attack us,鈥� mentioned Boyda. 鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to make excuses, Central came out and they beat us fair and square, but they caught us without our full roster.
鈥淗opefully next time we see them, which would be the playoffs, I鈥檇 like to play them with our entire roster, with everybody healthy and with us having a balanced attack with the run game and passing game fully intact and see what happens then.鈥�
For now, Boyda says that the Raiders have already forgotten about their recent loss to Central. Instead, they鈥檙e focused 100% on their next game, the Friday Night Lights game against the Weyburn Eagles. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hungry. We don鈥檛 want to lose two games in a row, so we鈥檙e going to come out hard,鈥� suggested the assistant coach. 鈥淚t seems like we鈥檒l be as close as we can be to having a full roster for that game, so we鈥檙e looking forward to moving on to Weyburn. We鈥檙e going to play tough and we鈥檙e going to give them hell.鈥�
Next action
The next action for the Yorkton Regional Raiders (2-1) will be this Friday, October 2, when they host the Weyburn Eagles for the sixth annual Friday Night Lights game. Kickoff is set for 7:00p.m. at Yorkton鈥檚 Century Field.
Jr. Raiders
The YRHS Jr. Raider football team proved once again why they鈥檙e known as a second half football team this past Saturday at Century Field.
The Jr. Raiders trailed the Lumsden Jr. Devils by 24 points at half-time 32-8, but battled back to tie the game with a last minute touchdown to secure one point to improve their Regina Minor Football Bantam Division record to 3-2-2, good enough for fourth place in the nine team Bantam Division, four points back of the league-leading Lakers, but just two points behind both the Balgonie Jr. Griffins and the Stampeders, the latter of which the Jr. Raiders play this coming Saturday in Regina to wrap up their 2015 regular season.
