The Yorkton Regional High School Raider Gridders didn't want to wait until the fall to start the football season, so they headed to Brandon, MB., on Friday, May 31 for some exhibition action.
The 3A 12-man football squad played two half games - one against the Winnipeg Vincent Massey and the other against Brandon Vincent Massey. The Raider Gridders lost to Winnipeg 10-7 and beat Brandon 14-3.
The scores were practically irrelevant to the Raider Gridders' objective in Manitoba, though.
"It's exhibition, we don't really care whether we win or lose," said Raider Gridders head coach Roby Sharpe. "The whole point of going to Brandon was to give the players a chance to go out on the field and try some stuff. It was a good experience for the young guys."
Sharpe had to think outside of the box for some positions because some of the Raider Gridders' key players for the upcoming season chose to go to track or baseball instead.
"I used some players in positions that I normally wouldn't," he said. "That's what exhibition is for, though. I'd put a guy at tight end, find out he can't catch the ball, so I'd move him to a different position. It's nice to have a game to find out more about the team."
With it being a very windy day, Mother Nature interfered with some of the Regional's plays.
"The weather was junk," said Sharpe. "It was really windy and that made it hard for some of the players to throw the ball. We definitely hoped for better weather, but that's life."
The Raider Gridders don't have anymore exhibition games scheduled this spring.
