The Estevan Miners' offence continues to roll, but the atom team's defence needs some work.
The Miners scored a touchdown for the second straight game in a 57-7 loss to the Regina Thunderbirds on Saturday, but poor defensive play in the first half was costly according to head coach Garth Deitz.
"I really don't know why we can't do anything in first half on defence. We can't stop the sweep," Deitz said.
"The defence at the start was not good at all. In the second half they picked up the pace a little bit."
Estevan's lone touchdown came on a short plunge following a flea flicker play that resulted in a big gain.
"Our offence looked really, really good. We opened up with that big long pass at the start," said Deitz, who estimated that his team completed about 50 per cent of its passes.
That was despite losing several key offensive players to injury.
The Miners lost their main running back to a rib injury, only to have their other option hurt his ankle.
Deitz then moved his starting centre to the backfield. Then his quarterback was injured, and with the first-string tailback also being the backup pivot, his centre was forced to run the offence.
"It was one of those games," he laughed.
Still, progress was made.
"Some of the plays we've been trying in practice, they worked. You're encouraged by that. The blocking is coming, the running game is coming."
Dietz said he was "disgusted" with some of the hits thrown by the Thunderbirds.
"There was a lot of blocking from the rear, guys are getting blindsided. Whether it's a legal hit or not, to me it's garbage football. It was a discouraging game for those reasons.
"You're seeing your kids get knocked around from stuff that technically could be legal, but sportsmanship-wise it's not."
The Miners visit the Weyburn Ravens on Sunday at 9 a.m.
