The YRHS senior Raiders football team proved to be terrible house guests on Saturday afternoon as they decimated the host Weyburn Eagles 55-17 to improve to 3-0 in Moose Jaw High School Football League (MJHSFL) play in 2014.
Quarterback Nick Payne eclipsed the 300 yard mark for the first time in his senior Raider career, completing 15-of-22 passes for 303 yards and one interception while Zach Kais once again dominated the opposing defence, rushing for 194 yards on 15 carries while finding the end zone an incredible four times. Other Raider touchdowns were scored by Darius Haberstock, Caleb Bymak and Greg Dutchak while Chilean import kicker Matias Castillo added seven points of his own via extra point conversions.
In total the Raider offence racked up 629 total yards, 313 through the air and 316 on the ground, meaning the Raiders are very dangerous offensively. "The running game and the passing game work hand in hand so if you don't have one you don't have the other," said interim head coach Darcy Zaharia. "But for us we have both so that works really well for us."
Zaharia then went on to suggest that Payne and Kais are arguably the best quarterback and running back combination the Raiders have ever had at their disposal. "Nick's been great for us. He's probably one of the best pure throwers we've ever had and that is a credit to our minor football program," offered Zaharia, continuing, "And Zach may be small in stature but there are not too many people that run harder than him. After contact he still gets another 10 yards for us."
Friday Night Lights
The annual Friday Night Lights game has become a tradition for the YRHS Senior Raiders football team over the past few years.
However no game under the lights has been more important than the one that will take place this Friday.
That's because the opponent will be Sawyer Buettner and his A.E. Peacock Tornadoes. The same A.E. Peacock Tornado team that won back-to-back MJHSFL titles at the Raiders' expense these past two seasons.
In fact the Tornadoes will bring a three game winning streak over the Raiders into Friday night's action.
But this time the Raiders will be ready. "We're ready for them," offered Raiders head coach Roby Sharpe. "We know it's going to be a battle. I've been telling these guys that I hope they don't think that we're going to go in and beat Peacock by 25 points. That's not going to happen. If we win we'll win by a field goal, hopefully a touchdown, maybe by punting the ball through the end zone for a single.
"I don't know how we're going to get it but it's not going to be 55-0. There is absolutely no chance in hell that that is going to happen so they have to be ready to fight, but we're ready for the fight."
Sharpe is also aware that they'll be taking on the top high school quarterback in the country in Peacock's Sawyer Buettner. However Sharpe says he's not worried about that.
Instead the Raider head coach believes that his secondary will cause all sorts of problems for Buettner and his receivers. "Obviously Buettner is a very good quarterback but out defensive backs are really good," quipped Sharpe, continuing, "He could be the best quarterback in the world but if he's got no one to pass to, well, he'll just have to figure it out because our DB's are pretty darn good and his receivers won't be open."
Sharpe also feels that is team will have a definite advantage on Friday, despite the fact that Peacock will bring in all the momentum having won the last three head-to-head match ups between the two teams. "They won the last three against us, but this time we'll have a crowd of two or three thousand behind us.
"They might have the momentum, but we're ready for them."
The next action for the YRHS Senior Raiders (3-0) will be this Friday, October 3 when they host the undefeated Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Tornadoes (3-0) for the fifth annual Friday Night Lights football game at Century Field. Kickoff is set for 7:00p.m.
Juniors
The YRHS Junior Raiders football team was in action this past Sunday at Century Field when they hosted the first place Regina Sun Devils.
The Junior Raiders kept the game close for the entire first half trailing 16-0 heading into the third quarter, however the Sun Devils managed to pull away in the second half for a comfortable 40-0 win.
While the loss is painful for the Junior Raiders, it really means nothing in terms of making playoffs as the young Raiders have already qualified for the post season. It does, however, mean they might be seeded lower than they had expected. "We'll still be okay for playoffs," said head coach Al Kyle. "It's going to drop us down a little bit more than what we've wanted but I think we'll be ready to go for playoffs."
The next action for the Junior Raiders is Sunday, October 5 when they travel to Regina to battle the second place Regina Renegades. Kickoff is set for 1:00p.m.
