MOOSE JAW — With just under two minutes left to play on Oct. 11, the PA system at Elks Field belted out Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” as the Vanier Viking’s student fans sang along.
With the largest crowd of the year the Vikings went on to defeat the visiting Gull Lake Lions 63 - 28 in high school 9 Aside football.
The game was Seniors Night as players in Grade 12 were honoured in their last year of football.
And no senior shone brighter than Vikings rookie wide receiver Zayden Anderson who scored five touchdowns largely playing only the first half.
But the game was much more than hurdler Mr Anderson it was a matrix of Vikings playing without a glitch.
It was a game where a first half lopsided score of 55 - 14 in the Vikings favour - a luxury - meant everyone, from grades nine to 12, were given a chance to play.
“It was good. We made a couple of mistakes in the first half but you know the boys responded and played a really clean second half. Our offence kind of showed their true colours tonight so I’m really proud of the guys,” Vanier Vikings head coach Luke Tkatchuk told MJ Independent in the post game interview.
The large 55 - 14 lead at halftime in Vanier’s favour gave the Vikings coaching staff the luxury of playing every player without overly risking a loss.
“Right from grace nine to grade twelve everybody saw the field tonight. Which is a really good opportunity for everybody. Its looking like a bright future,” Tkachuk said.
The opportunity to allow all players to play is good for the team in the distant and not so distant future.
“Against Shaunavon next week we are going to need everybody to pull up their boot strings and play their A game against those guys,” he said.
The Vikings meet the very tough 4 - 1 Shaunavon Shadows next week on the road.
About Zayden Anderson’s incredible five touchdowns Tkachuk said “Zayden (Anderson) played a great game. He put out down there and he showed his true colours. He played a really good game.”
Anderson was largely pulled after the first half of play to allow the younger members of the Vikings to have a game time opportunity.
“We let some of those younger guys play to get in there and get their licks.”
He described the five touchdown performance by Anderson as “awesome.”
“Yeah it’s good. It’s awesome. I don’t want to say it is what we expected out of him but we do, it’s awesome.”
With the season ending injury of outstanding running back Game Yasinski - who broke his leg two weeks ago playing Maple Creek - the team responded to fill the major gap the injury left behind.
“Yes, it was nice. Everybody kind of stepped up this week (in practice) and tonight it was an all around really great team win,” he said.
Asked what was the Vikings biggest positive in the game he said it was the offence.
“They executed well and everybody did their job this week.”
The biggest weakness the Vikings saw in the game were “just a couple of mistakes but we will clean those up and be ready for Shaunavon next week.”
Vikings end the regular season with a 3 - 2 record. The team's semifinal game is Friday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. in Shaunavon.
For Vikings wide receiver Zayden Anderson it was the best outing of the season.
But at the same time not the first game he scored multiple touchdowns.
In their season opening 62 - 12 loss to Lumsden Anderson was responsible for all 12 points of Viking scoring. He scored two touchdowns in the losing effort.
“It was an amazing game. We started off really strong offensively and defensively. We had some really nice interceptions. We were all just a buzzing and just to be part of this game is awesome,” Anderson said.
Asked if he expected the Vikings to have such a strong outing he said he had his concerns.
“I was kind of skeptical about it. We played way better than I thought and you know it was awesome,” he said.
The loss of running back Game Yasinski for the remainder of the season was felt by the team and Anderson personally.
“I’m missing Yasinski a lot but next year he will be back stronger than ever.”
Anderson - who is a track star who is know for sprinting a hurdles - said the combination of the two sports were fun.
“It has got to be a combination of both I think. They’re both really fun.”
During the game Anderson vaulted over the Lions on two separate occasions including one when he was surrounded by five Lions defenders and looked as if he would be tackled immediately. He hurtled through it and ended up scoring a touchdown on the same play.
Asked about his scoring the five touchdowns Anderson said it wasn’t something he had expected to happen.
“This is my first year ever playing football and you know I have just kind of expected to come out here and have fun and not score five touchdowns,” he said, adding “you know the tables have just turned.”
Asked if the game was his “Polk High moment” in football Anderson said he was unaware of the reference but would google it later.
Anderson said despite never playing organized football in his life he is happy with his choice.
“I just kind of wanted to try something different and I thought Track and Football is a pretty good combo,” the grade 12 student said.
Game Scoring Synopsis
First Quarter
Vanier 28 Gull Lake 0
Two touchdowns by Zayden Anderson
Second Quarter
Vanier 55 Gull Lake 14
Gull Lake scores a touchdown on a fumble by Vanier.
Gull Lake scores a second touchdown after Keegan Jensen takes a kickoff and runs the ball the length of the field.
Two touchdowns by Zayden Anderson in the quarter.
Third Quarter
Vanier 62 and Gull Lake 21
Fourth Quarter
Final Score
Vanier 63 and Gull Lake 28
