“We scored on the first drive,” said Yorkton head coach, Roby Sharpe, who added that might not have been the best thing because the team seemed to think they were on their way to another easy win. “They sort of let their foot off the gas.”
But the visiting Moose Jaw Central Cyclones were not ready to throw in the towel.
The game was close at the half, and in a mistake riddled third quarter things turned the visitor’s way.
Sharpe said the quarter was a strange one. The Raiders saw two snaps on punts sail over the punter’s head, from two different centres.
Then a sure-handed receiver let a pass fall to the grass after it hit him in the numbers.
But, Yorkton held a slim 13-10 lead through most of the quarter until Moose Jaw scored a major late to take the lead.
The Raiders were up against it in the fourth quarter. With only a 1-1 record, their scheduled game in Swift Current cancelled, Yorkton could not afford to lose.
“If we’d lost the next two games would have meant nothing,” said Sharpe.
But with a Grade 10 Chase Batke at the helm at quarterback the Raider Gridders put in a better fourth quarter for an eventual 28-23 win.
Sharpe said Saturday morning he texted his QB to tell him how proud he was of his effort.
“He’s as tough as nails ... What’s he going to be when he’s in Grade 12?” asked Sharpe.
The offence clicked in and that was the difference.
“We came storming back and they couldn’t stop us,” said Sharpe.
Now with two games left on the schedule, the Raider Gridders have a shot at a semi-final berth.
“The next two games we should win and that would put us in,” said Sharpe.
The Raider Gridders host Moose Jaw Peacock Saturday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m. at Century Field, then head to Moose Jaw Oct. 23 to face Vanier.
