For the third time this season, the YRHS senior football team scored at least 20 points in a football game.
For the first time this season it did not end up being enough to win the game.
The Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) Raider Gridder seniors took on the Miller Comprehensive School Marauders last Wednesday afternoon.
It was the opening round of the 2011 Saskatchewan High Schools Athletics Association football post season.
The game was played at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field.
It did not start out so good for the YRHS, and didn't finish well, either, as Miller advanced to the next round of the playoffs following their 42-20 win.
It was one of the most back-and-forth games YRHS has played in this season.
The last meeting between these two teams resulted in an 18-0 shutout victory for Miller.
This time around, the teams exchanged offensive shots like a couple of western gunslingers in a standoff.
YRHS gave up a safety on the game's opening drive and also misplayed the football in their own end zone and Miller was able to recover in the end zone to take an early 8-0 lead.
The Raider special teams unit was able to block the convert.
Weather wise, it was one of the best nights for football this year.
There were at least six touchdowns scored, and a ton of turnovers, including four in the last minute of the first half. The Raiders' Paul Toth could have been excused from classes the following day for being exhausted.
He played all over the field, five different positions, seeing time on the offence, the defence and special teams.
He ran the ball 22 times; once for 11 yards. He also sprinted for nine yards on two different tries and eight yards on two different tries.
He said after the game it was the mistakes that killed them.
"We could have been better. A couple of plays killed us."
It was particularly painful to take the loss against a team he said he knows YRHS can beat.
Toth was taken out of the game late in the fourth quarter with a groin pull.
Teammate Dalton Fichtner also had a strong showing. He threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Colby Melnechenko which cut a 14-0 Miller lead to 14-6.
The touchdown pass came immediately after Miller turned the ball over.
Fichtner said afterwards the early deficit was probably the result of some nervousness on his part.
"I was a little nervous," he said after the game.
He then mentioned that a little pep talk from one of his full backs, might have saved his day.
"I talked to Paul (Toth). The nervousness melted away." He added that the game soon became pretty good to be a part of.
"It was fununtil I got hurt."
But it was definitely fun."
Fichtner and Toth both put up their fair share of offensive numbers. Fichtner carried 13 times, picking up 20 and 12 yards once.
Layne Hull carried twice and Tanner Kardynal carried twice.
Hull also received for a total of 40 yards on three catches.
The defence combined for 31 tackles, led by Michael Nagy, Grey McKen and Toth.
Roby Sharpe, head coach said, despite the loss, it was a really good game to coach, insisting that the score was much closer than the numbers suggest.
"We had them," he said, recalling the fourth quarter when Miller led by seven.
"It was absolutely awesome until the end," he said. "We were driving the ball, then we threw a pick. That one turnover killed us."
The YRHS fell behind and were never able to fully recover, however, the secondary forced at least three Miller turnovers in the first half, and it was anybody's game.
"It's unbelievable how good the football was."
Sharpe insisted that the YRHS Raiders were as ready for Miller as they could have been, having gone through game tapes on the Marauders.
The YRHS was ranked sixth in the 3A 12-Man Stewart Conference. Miller (#3) now moves on the play O'Neill (6-1) in second place.
