The Yorkton Regional High School senior Raiders football team traveled to Swift Current over the weekend to face the Colts in semi-final action.
The Raiders played a close game with the Colts, but in the end fell 21-7.
In the first game of the season, the Raiders and the Colts faced off and the final score was 40-7. In a much closer match this time, head coach Roby Sharpe said they were fighting until the end.
“We were right there with them,” he said. “It’s just too bad we lost those games early on, because it made us have to travel six hours to play. Had it been the other way, and they traveled to play us, it could have been a different game.”
Early in the game, the Raiders had a chance to get their name on the scoreboard first. But after an incomplete pass and a missed field goal, the Colts benefitted and took the ball 95 yards for the touchdown.
“So then you’re battling all game to play catch up. Then it’s 14-7, and we just couldn’t quite put the pieces together. And they scored late, making it 21-7,” Sharpe said.
Overall, Sharpe said it was a great season for his team, who improved “1000 per cent” since they began in September.
“We turned out to be so good, we should be happy,” he said. “We came so far. But, you still want to be able to finish it. You still want to win that last game. It’s tricky. When you look at the positives, we had a really good season and overall it was awesome to see the guys improve like they did.”
One positive for the Raiders moving forward is that they’re only losing six graduating players this year. So they’re already looking forward to next season.
“We look pretty good for the future,” said Sharpe. He mentioned some players who made a difference this year, who will be around for next season.
“Jordin Rusnack, especially from the way he started to the way he ended up, was awesome – a pleasant surprise. Zach Fleury is very good; he’s very physical and very tough. And they we had U’sinne Langford who came to us from Winnipeg, he’s a very good player, he’s got some swag.”
Jordin Rusnack was the Raiders’ grade ten quarterback, who Sharpe has praised all season for his improvement.
Rusnack said although the team would have loved to finish with a better outcome, overall he’s happy with how they played.
“Considering the grade twelves we had, only six, that shows a lot for next year because our guys know what to expect now. Everyone stepped up a lot throughout the season,” he said. “I’m happy with it. Especially for my first year.”
While Rusnack humbly praised the entire team for their hard work throughout the season, Sharpe chimed in to praise the young quarterback for his own personal success.
“[Rusnack] is on track to break league records,” said Sharpe. “His stats as a grade ten, it’s unheard of. It’s the best grade ten quarterback in the history of the league, really.”
“I was happy with all the stats, and I improved a lot throughout the season, too. I’m proud about that,” Rusnack said.
