Willen Paligan scored all three Yorkton touchdowns and the Peewee Gridder defence was its usual solid self as the Yorkton Peewee Gridders advanced to the 2015 Regina Minor Football (RMF) Peewee Division semi-finals with a hard-fought 22-0 shutout victory over the Regina Argos Sunday afternoon at Century Field.
“It was a lot closer of a game than we’re used to,” said Peewee Gridder head coach Grant Edgar following his team’s 22-0 playoff win. “We had played them earlier in the season and it was a tight game as well and today it was very much the same game.
“They have a great defence, they game planned well and we had to grind out a victory but that’s exactly what we thought we’d have to do today and we did.”
The Gridders scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first half, both by star running back Willen Paligan, however could have had more if they secured the football better. “In the first half we kind of shot ourselves in the foot so to speak. We had two red zone turnovers and an interception that is uncharacteristic for our football team,” offered Edgar, adding that it was good to face a little bit of adversity while still maintaining the lead. “It’s a good learning experience for us. Adversity is something that we haven’t really faced so far this year, so it’s nice to face some adversity right now and come out on the right end of it.”
But while the offence struggled at times in the game, the defence remained strong, keeping the Argo offence off the scoreboard for the entire game. “Our defence was great again,” said Edgar, continuing, “We made a few little adjustments just based on what we saw from them the last time we played them and our defensive players, everyone from the first group and the second group, played right to script and didn’t give them much at all.”
The win improves the Peewee Gridders’ record to 9-0 on the season and sets up a semi-final matchup against the fifth seeded Regina Thunder (6-3), who upset the Razorbacks 28-14 in their quarterfinal game. That game is scheduled for 11:45a.m.on Saturday. The winner faces the winner of the other semi-final game between the Balgonie North Griffins (9-0) and Regina Riders (9-0).
