Yorkton Peewee Gridders sit atop of the Regina Minor Football League standings with a perfect 70 record. Four players from the Preeceville and Sturgis area have greatly contributed to the Gridders success in the best minor football league in the nation.
Willen Paligan not only leads the team but the entire league in rushing yards and touchdowns. Willen’s speed, athletic ability, vision and pure toughness is a key component to the success of the Yorkton Gridders offence. Yorkton ranks number one in offence.
“Willen is a game changer that we are very fortunate to have him at our disposal on offence as well as on special teams. We know when we call his number something special is going to happen. It just makes you say wow, how did he do that. How he cuts on a dime is worth the price of admission alone. Plus he’s very coachable and a great teammate,” said Coach Jason Boyda. Boyda was the head football coach and teacher at the Preeceville School for a short period until he moved to Yorkton.
On defence, the secondary is led by Dylan Wiwcharuk at safety. The ball hawking defensive back has recorded three interceptions, five knockdowns, a special team’s fumble recovery, numerous tackles and also return punts for the Gridders.
“At first we were going to place Dylan at the corner because of his lack of experience in the 12man game. But after the first two practices Dylan displayed speed and ability to pick up defensive concepts quickly so we decided to move him to safety, which in our defensive system is the quarterback of the defense. Dylan is a dependable player and a great kid,” said Boyda.
The defensive line is anchored by Shae Peterson.
“Shae has harassed quaterbacks and running backs all season long. Peterson has 4.5 quarterback sacks on the season. Most people don’t realize the difficult job interior defensive lines have. Shae is required to take on double teams from the offensive line to maintain his gap or free up a blitzing linebacker and provide a great push in the middle to collapse the pocket. Sounds easy but it’s not. It’s a grind in the middle that takes a special player to bang and clang play after play which us coaches value from Shae,” he said.
“Dakota HoffmanWard plays the Z wide receiver position for the Gridders. The sure handed and speedy wide receiver has hauled in two touchdown passes thus far this season.
“Most people only notice wide receivers when they catch the football, but in our offensive system we really depend on the wide receivers to block or crack block outside linebackers to make our run game a go, and Dakota is our best blocking receiver. He has extended many run plays by his devasting blocks. He’s the total package at receiver and when we isolate him versus a defensive back and have man coverage, my money is on him all the time to make the play,” said Boyda.
