The Yorkton Regional High School Raiders football team has just one game left in their regular season before the playoffs begin.
On Thursday, Oct. 6 the Raiders played on their home turf against the Peacock Tornadoes in less than ideal conditions. The falling snow and standing water on the field made for a tough game for the Raiders and the final score was 15-0 for Peacock.
Over the past several games, a big part of the Raiders’ play has come from long distance throws from quarterback Jordin Rusnack, and impressive catches from receivers. The weather for Thursday’s game acted as a disadvantage against this type of play.
Roby Sharpe, head coach of the Raiders, said of all the years they would have liked to see a nice day to face Peacock, it would have been this year.
“For years we were like, ‘if the weather would just turn bad, it would be awesome to play those guys,’” he said. “We [used to have] a strong run game and a big offensive line. In bad conditions, it would have been to our advantage.”
But this year, it’s the opposite.
“We can throw the ball, and we have the good receivers, with a little bit of a smaller [offensive] line,” he said. “It’s bizarre irony that it was an absolutely awful day.”
Despite the outcome, Sharpe said it was a moral victory for the team. Had the weather cooperated, a few plays likely would have ended differently, resulting in a different score for the game.
With one game left, Sharpe said the team is going to keep working. The outcome of the final regular season game will decide where they sit for the playoffs.
“As always, one game at a time,” Sharpe said. “We play Vanier on Saturday, hopefully we’ll come out on top. And we’ll go from there.”
As for predictions during the playoffs, Sharpe said it’s one of the smallest, youngest teams they’ve ever had from YRHS.
“With that being said, I’ve never seen a team improve this much over the course of five games,” he said. “So we’re going to be dangerous in the playoffs for sure. We can beat any team.”
“It’s just going to be a matter of coming together at the right time.”
The Raiders play their final regular season game on Saturday, Oct. 15 against the Vanier Vikings in Moose Jaw.
