Thursday marked a historic day in the short existence of John Paul II Crusaders high school football.
The Crusaders hosted their very first playoff football game, playing on their brand new home field Thursday afternoon.
They took on Meadow Lake Spartans, a team they had decisively crushed in two regular season meetings this year in nine-man football.
It was not expected to be a close contest, and the Crusaders wasted no time striking first.
A 71-yard touchdown reception run by Riley Loeppky less than four minutes into the game gave the Crusaders the early 7-0 lead.
Soon after, Jacob Stynsky's touchdown extended it to 14-0 following a Spartans turnover, and the Crusaders were on their way.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Crusaders were up 36-0, scoring a touchdown again on the final play of the third quarter.
A late touchdown and a safety finally put Meadow Lake on the scoreboard in the late going. The final score was 42-9 for the Crusaders.
The Crusaders now head to Esterhazy for their next playoff game in the provincial quarter finals.
Marion Graham 31 Vikings 21
Later that evening the 2-4 North Battleford Comprehensive School Vikings took on the 3-3 Marion Graham Falcons in the final regular season game for the team at Beaver Lions Stadium.
But it was a slow start for the Vikings on offence as the Falcons scored three unanswered touchdowns in the first half.
With the score 7-0, Falcons QB Jack Wright threw a touchdown to Connor Sparks with a little over four minutes to go in the second quarter. With just over a minute left, a touchdown pass to Alexander Dewar made it 21-0 Falcons and that would be the score at the half.
A good drive to start the second half had the Vikings in scoring position, and on second and goal Keegan Horrell ran in the Vikings' touchdown at the 3:50 mark of the third quarter. The extra point made it 21-7.
The Falcons added a field goal before the third quarter ended, and threatened to score again on a turnover early in the fourth before penalties and a missed field goal ended the drive. The next drive proved a fruitful one for the Vikings. A touchdown toss by Damon Dutton to Presley Peterson drew the Vikings to a 10-point margin with 6:04 left in the game.
But all momentum evaporated when the Falcons' Davis Turnmire immediately returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and that quieted the fans at Beaver Lions Stadium.
The Vikings did get a late touchdown to Matt Dutton to make it respectable late. The final score was 31-21 Falcons.
