The Yorkton Junior Raider Gridders extended their record to a perfect 6-0 with a thorough thumping of the Balgonie Griffins at Century Field in Yorkton Sunday afternoon.
The Junior Raiders were up 24-11 at the half, had extended the margin to 48-11 with a 24-point third quarter, then rounded out a 59-11 win with a solid fourth quarter.
Yorkton head coach Al Kyle said the Griffins stayed with the Raiders well in the first half.
“The first half they did some things that we had to adjust too,” he said.
The big thing was a defensive set that did not include a safety, a formation that tends to thwart a run game, but leaves the defence with a hole that a quarterback can exploit on the pass.
“We were able to hit on some longer passes,” said Kyle, adding that is a strength on the team with Jake Farrell at the controls.
Farrell was able to find receivers Andrew Brown and Noah Schneider on keys gains in the first half to set the trend in the game.
“Jake Farrell is our leader back there,” said his coach.
With the Junior Raiders rolling through the regular season – they have allowed only two touchdowns in six games – the question is how to keep the team focused on staying sharp.
“A Yorkton team has never won a league championship in the Regina league,” said Kyle, adding “we want to be the team to end that shut-out.”
So is this the team to end the championship drought in the mind of their head coach?
“I sure hope so. We’ve just got to stay healthy and stay focused going forward,” he said.
