ESTEVAN - The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs suffered another loss Friday night, but managed to score their first touchdown of the season.
Estevan dropped a 39-6 decision to the Swift Current Colts at the Dana Quewezance Memorial Field at Woodlawn Athletic Park. The Elecs' score came in the third quarter, when they marched down the field on an extended drive and punched the ball into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run by Preston McGuire.
"The kids were pretty pumped and happy about that, and hopefully that can lead to some more confidence and better execution on offence, and we can put up some more points," said head coach Mark Schott.
Schott said the Elecs thought they had a major in the first half on what would have been a 70-yard touchdown romp, but it was called back on a penalty. Swift Current had a 14-0 lead at halftime.
There were three plays that Schott said changed the game. One was the negated score in the second quarter. Then, on the Elecs' first offensive drive of the second half, Swift Current intercepted the ball, which set up a Colts' score. ECS fumbled the subsequent kickoff, and Swift Current scored again.
"In the span of five or six minutes of game play, there was a three-touchdown swing," said Schott.
The Elecs' defensive backs had a strong game against the Colts potent passing attack, Schott said, as they had a number of knockdowns, while Jayden Smith had an interception on what Schott said was a great play.
The Elecs (0-4) will close out the regular season on Oct. 14 at the Moose Jaw Central Cyclones. ECS will play either Swift Current or Moose Jaw Peacock in the consolation final.
Schott noted ECS also had a rookie scrimmage with Moose Jaw Central and the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles on Sept. 26. The Elecs used mostly Grade 9 and 10 students for the game, and Schott said they had a lot of fun. Central beat Estevan 7-0 and ECS played Weyburn to a scoreless draw.
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The Estevan Kinette Club U18 female Viragos wrapped up their season with a 40-6 loss to the league-leading Yorkton Lady Gridders Saturday in Yorkton.
Coach Mark Tribiger said the Viragos were the first team to put up points against Yorkton this season. The Gridders had outscored their opponents 70-0 in their first two games of the campaign.
Morgan Hase scored a touchdown on a long run of more than 60 yards for the Viragos' points. It was the third straight game that Hase has scored on such a play.
"The players did what we expected them to do," said Tribiger. "Honestly, our plan was just to give Yorkton a pretty good run."
Yorkton led 20-6 at half-time.
Tribiger was pleased to see their graduating players come out and play hard in their final game of football.
While the Viragos didn't win a game this season, Tribiger is pleased with the strides.
"We've come leaps and bounds and we've been in every game at halftime. It's just with the lack of players, we've got too tired and couldn't keep up with them," said Tribiger.
This coming weekend will be the Viragos' bye week, and they won't make the playoffs.
There is talk that the league might drop to six players per team on the field at once for next season, as this is the only youth female league in Canada that plays nine aside. And there is also talk of having separate divisions for junior (Grades 5-8) and senior (Grades 9-12) girls.
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The Estevan Lions Club U14 Oilers played the Swift Current Steelers to a scoreless tie on Sunday.
Coach Paul Duncan said the game was contested in incredibly rainy, wet and cold conditions. Neither offence moved the ball well due to the weather, and the defences were strong.
"It was a really run-heavy game, and the defence, obviously, with no points up, saved our bacon," said Duncan.
The Steelers marched the ball deep into the Oilers' territory late in the fourth quarter. On third down, Swift Current attempted a punt for a single point to win the game. It appeared the strategy worked, but the Steelers were called for no yards, the ball was brought out of the end zone and Estevan ran out the clock.
"I really think we could have played with Swift Current and given them a run for their money, especially if it was clearer conditions for us, because we're a little bit more of a pass team than we are a run team," said Duncan.
Arvin Sangar and Brody Hogg had strong games defensively for Estevan.
The Oilers will host the Moose Jaw Vikings on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.
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The Estevan Power Dodge U12 Chargers dropped a 64-0 decision to the Moose Jaw Lions Saturday afternoon at Woodlawn.
The Chargers will travel to Moose Jaw to face the Bulldogs on Oct. 7.
