The YRHS Raiders have been downright dominant against nearly every team in the Moose Jaw High School Football League (MJHSFL) since joining the league for the 2012 season.
But for all their dominance there has been one team that has proved to be more than they could handle: the A.E. Peacock Tornadoes.
The Raiders鈥� struggles against the Tornadoes continued last Wednesday afternoon at Moose Jaw鈥檚 Guthridge Field, as the Raiders lost their sixth consecutive game to A.E. Peacock dating back to the 2012 MJHSFL championship game, this time falling by a score of 36-14.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what it is, we just have a hard time against these guys,鈥� Raider offensive coordinator Jason Boyda told Yorkton This Week immediately following the Raiders鈥� second loss of the season and second at Guthridge Field where they鈥檙e 0-2 this season. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e obviously a good team, but so are we. We should be able to get one on them some time.鈥�
The Raiders played from behind for nearly the entire game as the Tornadoes scored twice in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead after 12 minutes, including an 89-yard catch and run touchdown by football newcomer Ryan Botterill on Peacock鈥檚 second play of the game.
A second quarter dominated by defence saw just one point scored on a Tornado missed field-goal attempt, resulting in a 15-0 A.E. Peacock lead after two quarters.
That single point proved to be the one that resulted in the winning score, as the Tornadoes scored three more touchdowns in the second half for a total of 36 points while YRHS鈥� Caleb Bymak scored both of the Raiders鈥� touchdowns in the game.
In addition to the two touchdowns the grade 12 running back also ran for 169 yards on the day while his counterpart, Peacock鈥檚 Kyle Arndt, scampered for 126 and two touchdowns of his own.
A.E. Peacock starting quarterback Park Andrews threw for 338 yards, 259 of those to Botterill, while YRHS grade 10 backup quarterback Matthew Balysky completed 6-of-17 passes for 76 yards as he was pressed into action due to an ankle injury to YRHS starting quarterback Nick Payne. 鈥淢atthew Balysky did a good job of stepping into the quarterback position with limited practice,鈥� offered Boyda. 鈥淗e basically had just two days to prepare with one day being an install day and the other a day for fine tuning things, so I think he did a good job and I think the guys kind of rallied around him, and although we lost, I think it was a good experience for him if we miss Nick for any more time.鈥�
Boyda also mentioned that Payne wasn鈥檛 the only key player on offence that the Raiders were without on Wednesday. Wide receiver Austin Olson and behemoth left tackle Noah Zerr were also unable to play due to injury. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to put up points when you鈥檙e missing your top offensive lineman (Zerr), your starting quarterback (Payne) and one of your receivers (Olson),鈥� said Boyda. 鈥淲e had to put Balysky 鈥� one of our top receivers 鈥� into the game at quarterback so that took away another one of our guns and left us with tough decisions all game long.鈥�
Next up
The YRHS Raiders welcomed the Vanier Vikings to town yesterday (Tuesday), however results were unavailable at press time.
The next action for the YRHS Raiders will be Saturday, October 17, when they host a quarterfinal playoff game at Century Field. As of press time no opponent has been determined.
