The Yorkton Atom Gridders and Yorkton Peewee Gridders both moved to 2-0 on the season after both clubs found success in their first home games of the season.
The Atoms triumphed 21-13 over the visiting Regina Ti-Cats while the Peewee Gridders ran roughshod over the Balgonie 麻豆传媒AV Griffins, trouncing the away team 64-12.
Atoms
At times it seemed as if the Atom Gridders took a few plays off which resulted in the Regina Ti-Cats nearly coming all the way back, but in the end the Atom Gridders managed to bend but not break as they improved to 2-0 on the season with a 21-13 win. 鈥淲e got a little complacent on offence and we weren鈥檛 moving the ball and on defence they just broke a couple of our tackles and their touchdowns were off of big plays,鈥� offered Atom Gridder head coach Ryan Effa. 鈥淭hey were able to mount a comeback but I鈥檓 proud of the guys for how they stuck with it, fought for 48 minutes and secured the win.鈥�
The Atom Gridders built up a 21-point lead heading into the final quarter thanks in large part to third year Atom standout Justin Adam, who found the end zone twice.
However the Ti-Cats - themselves victors in the first week of the season with a 6-0 win over the Regina Alouettes 鈥� did not go away, scoring twice off of Yorkton mistakes to cut the lead to just eight with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
A strong defensive stand by the Ti-Cats gave the ball back to the Regina squad, and with momentum on their side they began to push for their third score of the quarter until Yorkton defensive star Chet Ostapowich made his presence felt, chasing down a Regina ball carrier late in the game for a tackle that ended up being a key moment in the football game. 鈥淥stapowich had a huge game on defence,鈥� mentioned coach Effa, adding that Ostapowich saved his best tackle for late in the game. 鈥淗e had a game saving tackle in the fourth quarter that saved the game for us.
鈥淲ithout that tackle we might not have won the game.鈥�
Effa also noted that two other players 鈥� quarterback Jake Farrell and defensive player Noah Schneider 鈥� also had a positive effect on the game. 鈥淛ake Farrell as our quarterback also led the offence up and down the field and Noah Schneider had a good game as well on defence for us,鈥� suggested the Atom bench boss. 鈥淭hose two guys stood out, although everyone else on the team did well, too.鈥�
The Yorkton Atom Gridders鈥� next game will be Saturday when they host the visiting Regina Badgers (0-2). Kickoff is set for 1:13pm.
Peewee power
The Yorkton Peewee Gridders nearly wore out the scoreboard at Yorkton鈥檚 Century Field Sunday afternoon, scoring early and often in a 64-12 win over the Balgonie 麻豆传媒AV Griffins.
Peewee Gridder head coach Grant Edgar told Yorkton This Week that he felt his team showed what they learned from last week鈥檚 54-20 win over the Regina Mustangs, saying: 鈥淲e built upon the positive things that we did in our first game and corrected some of the mistakes that we made last week and it was a good team win.
鈥淲e were very balanced offensively with a couple of wide receivers getting touchdowns, a couple slotbacks scoring and a couple of tailbacks finding the end zone for scores.鈥�
Willen Deo Paligan and Johntee Ostapowich factored heavily in the offensive onslaught as both found the end zone multiple times, while the quarterbacking duo of Riley Clarke and Connor Watrych kept the Griffins鈥� defence off-balance all game long.
Brad Heskin led the Peewee Gridder defence for the entire contest, wreaking havoc in the Balgonie backfield, pressuring the Griffin quarterback on nearly every snap.
The next action for the Yorkton Peewee Gridders (2-0) will be this Sunday when they host the Regina Vikings (1-0). Kickoff is set for 11:00am.
