Coming off a tough campaign in 2009, in which they could only muster up one win on the season - the very last game - the Estevan Lafrentz Trucking Steelers returned to the field Sunday to open up their 2010 Regina Minor Football league bantam season under the bright lights at Taylor Field in Regina.With an overhauled coaching staff and new offensive and defensive philosophies on the table, head coach Murray Fischer led the team onto the field with high expectations for this year's squad.Spoiling the fun though, were the host Regina Packers, who wasted no time reminding the Steelers that winning in this league would take more than just high expectations.The Packers scored early and often, taking the opening play from scrimmage all the way for a touchdown to open up the floodgates in what would turn into a 34-0 first quarter romp.Despite the large deficit, Steelers' quarterback Colby Fleury hooked up with Evan Tarnes for a 28-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. The six points would be all the offence could muster in the first half though, as the Packers added 15 more to head into half-time with a lopsided 49-6 lead.After the half, the Steelers' defence looked nothing like the first-half squad, allowing only 13 points in the final two quarters.The Estevan offence finished the game on a high note as well, as they put together a late scoring drive, capped off by an 11-yard Nolan Tide touchdown run with four minutes left.Despite two impressive scoring drives, and an offense that performed fairly well throughout the game, the outcome was never really in doubt, as the Packers sailed on to a 62-12 win.Fleury completed five of 10 passes on the night, for 62 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in his opening game behind centre for the Steelers.The offence was helped along by Tarnes and Nolan Tide, who had 85- and 88-yards from scrimmage respectively, and one touchdown each."The three of them (Fleury, Tide and Tarnes) really stood out for us on offence," said Fischer. "Nolan played really well. He broke a lot of tackles and got most of our first downs, and proved to be very clutch for us throughout the game."The Steelers are back on the practice field this week, preparing for their home-opener on Saturday against the Regina Raiders.Despite the lopsided loss, Fischer isn't panicking yet. The head coach said he expects the team's struggles will be easy to address in the weeks to come."On the defensive side, we just need to be better prepared as far as our expectations of other teams go. We've got to make the players more comfortable and have them understand where they need to be," said Fischer.As far as the offence goes, Fischer said the team will be working to improve their blocking schemes in order to help spring holes for ball carriers. If Sunday's game is any indication of what's to come, the Steelers look to be sporting a high-powered offence with several formidable running backs and receivers.Don't expect the the early loss to make the team timid either. Fischer said he will continue to stress aggressive, hard-nosed football for the remainder of the season.Saturday's game starts at 2 p.m. out at Woodlawn.
