Dropped passes and missed plays proved to be fatal for the Yorkton Peewee Gridders on Saturday afternoon at Regina鈥檚 Leibel Field, as the young Yorkton football players felt the sting of defeat for the first time in a 38-18 loss to the Balgonie North Griffins in the Regina Minor Football Peewee Division Championship game.
The two teams entered Saturday鈥檚 title game undefeated with both teams carrying identical 10-0 records into the contest.
The Peewee Gridders started off strongly scoring the first touchdown of the game when star running back Willen Paligan cut through the Balgonie defence to find the end zone, however it was all Griffins from there as they scored the next three touchdowns to take a 24-6 lead near the end of the first half.
The Gridders had a chance to cut into the 18-point Griffin lead on their last play of the first half as quarterback Riley Clarke aired the ball out to his receiver, however a dropped pass in the end zone ensured the score remained 24-6 for the Griffins.
Balgonie increased their lead to 32-6 with the lone touchdown of the third quarter while the Peewee Gridders just could not find their offensive footing, dropping four consecutive passes before Dakota Hoffman-Ward was finally able to hold onto the ball for an outstanding catch.
A Paligan rushing touchdown and a Hoffman-Ward touchdown reception gave the Gridders a total of 18 points, however another Balgonie score made it a 38-18; a score that would remain until the end of the game as the Peewee Gridders鈥� quest for a perfect season fell one game short.
Following the game Peewee Gridder head coach Grant Edgar told Yorkton This Week that the plan was to attack Balgonie鈥檚 secondary; a plan that very well could have worked had the receivers been able to hold on to the ball. 鈥淲e had our guys open but we had some crucial drops that are usually caught by our receivers, but that鈥檚 football,鈥� said Edgar, adding that although his team lost, their season is not just defined by the last 48 minutes. 鈥淭he kids put of a hell of a fight all season and I鈥檓 proud of all of those kids.
鈥淭he countless hours that they put in to come to practice and the hard work they had to do was really impressive. We started the season when it was +30 out and last week we practiced in -5 weather when it was raining and snowing, so hats off to those kids.鈥�
Edgar also said that despite the loss, making it to the Championship game for the first time in Yorkton Peewee Football history can only be considered a success. 鈥淭he program hasn鈥檛 been around for that long so it鈥檚 a huge accomplishment for the direction that Yorkton Minor Football is going in and this will only be the first of many times Yorkton gets to the finals,鈥� offered Edgar, adding that while it is wonderful to play in the final game of the season, it鈥檚 still tough to walk away as runners up. 鈥淥bviously making the Championship game is a success in its own, but right now it鈥檚 a tough pill to swallow.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always tough to watch another team celebrate at the end of a game.鈥�
However he feels as if the experience of losing now will only push the team to do even better next year. 鈥淔or sure this will fuel the fire for next year,鈥� mentioned the Peewee head coach. 鈥淭hese kids will want to do better next year, and it doesn鈥檛 matter if it鈥檚 the returning kids here or the ones moving on to the bantam level, this will only push them to do better.鈥�
As for now, the Peewee Gridders, as well as the Atoms and Bantams, await their end of season awards banquet which is, as of yet, not scheduled.
