The lights weren鈥檛 the brightest thing on the field Friday night during the fifth annual Friday Night Lights game.
Instead it was the Raiders鈥� offence that shone brighter, racking up 454 yards of offence, 330 of which was on the ground, as the YRHS Raiders dismantled the visiting Weyburn Eagles 50-0.
The win improves the YRHS Raider record to 3-2 under the lights at Century Field. The 50 points is also the most the Raiders have scored in their five Friday Night Lights games, surpassing the 41-point total the Raiders put up in the inaugural game in 2011 against the Martin Monarchs.
Quarterback Nick Payne led everyone with 146 yards on just seven carries, while Caleb Bymak collected 71 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries as well.
Running back Brody Popowich came back from a lower body injury early and was used sparingly, registering just 41 yards on seven carries, while receivers Matthew Balysky and Matthew Mandziuk both hauled in four passes each with Balysky recording 70 yards and Mandizuk 46 yards.
The Raiders opened the scoring after their opening kickoff sailed through the end zone for a single giving the Raiders a 1-0 after the very first play of the game.
That 1-0 lead held up for the entire first quarter, as penalties and sloppy play allowed the Eagles to stay in the game early on. 鈥淲e talked to the guys before coming out and we told them to keep their emotions in check and not take penalties,鈥� YRHS Raider head coach Roby Sharpe said after the game. 鈥淚t seems like it鈥檚 our M/O to get about 20 penalties in the first quarter. We had a touchdown called back early, a bunch of penalties, so because of that Weyburn hung around and it was just 1-0 after the first quarter.鈥�
Luckily for Sharpe however, the Raiders put their first quarter penalty troubles behind them and, after securing good field position after a botched long snap by Weyburn, the Regional finally found the end zone when Bymak powered forward for a one yard plunge immediately following a 20-plus yard run to set it up.
Minutes later and Bymak was back at it, this time getting the ball on every play en route to his second touchdown of the quarter, this one a three yard score for a 15-0 Raider lead with 2:34 remaining in the opening half.
It looked like Weyburn would escape down just 15 after the first half, however a strong defensive stand by the Raiders put the ball back into the sure hands of Payne, who called his own number and ran the ball all the way down to the one yard line where he was ruled down by contact.
One play later and the Raiders scored their third touchdown of the night to give themselves a 22-0 lead at half-time. 鈥淲e probably could have, should have scored more points in the first half, but our offence looked terrible for the first nine plays,鈥� offered Sharpe, adding that once they finally got settled in things definitely went smoother. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big game, there was a huge crowd, so the jitters played a factor in the first quarter, but once we got rid of them we started firing a little bit better and obviously by the second quarter we were firing on all eight cylinders and we looked pretty good.鈥�
The Raiders added to their lead on their very first possession of the second half when Payne found Balysky in the end zone for the fourth Raider touchdown of the game to make it a 29-0 lead.
The Raiders scored three more touchdowns in the second half to reach the half-century mark while their defence held the Eagles to just 199 total yards of offence led by Brayden Johnson鈥檚 66 yards on 17 carries. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to get back in the win column,鈥� suggest Sharpe immediately following the game. 鈥淲e knew that when we field a full team we can beat anyone, so to respond like this after a loss, it鈥檚 huge.鈥�
The Raiders (3-1) will look to carry their momentum into tonight鈥檚 game in Moose Jaw against the undefeated A.E. Peacock Tornadoes. Peacock has not lost a game since 2012 and rides a 24-game winning streak into the contest, including three straight MJHSFL title game wins over the Raiders.
Donation
Football wasn鈥檛 the only thing that took place at Century Field on Friday night under the lights. A community and a school also gathered together to rally behind a community member and classmate stricken with cancer, as over 17-hundred dollars was raised through a silver collection at the gate and 50/50 sales for Chad Young, a student at the YRHS that was recently diagnosed with aggressive osteosarcoma.
The Raiders鈥� football team also promised to donate one dollar for every yard of offence on the night, bringing the total to over two thousand dollars. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not often that I say that there are things bigger than football, but this is definitely one of them,鈥� mentioned Sharpe. 鈥淐had isn鈥檛 a member of the football team, but he is a member of the Raider family and it鈥檚 nice to have a night where you can see the community get behind a thing like this.鈥�
The Raiders, the community of Yorkton and the staff at Yorkton This Week wish Chad all the best in his battle.
