Although his team suffered an 18-7 loss to the Kindersley Kobras in their home opener Friday, there were a lot of positives that John Paul II Crusaders head coach Bruce Yockey could take out of his team’s showing at Crusader Field.
“I was really happy with how the defence played as it would have been scoreless at halftime if it wasn’t for an interception we threw,” Yockey said. “We just needed to get them off the field more often than we did, but we were really struggling on offence.
“The biggest thing was that weren’t ready to play a regular season yet, especially with a younger team. We have a lot of Grade 9 players taking to the field on a regular basis, and it’s really tough for them to get used to some of the adjustments that comes with playing at this level, especially with the timing on offence. As the season goes on though, I think you will see that come around for us.”
The Crusaders actually took the lead with 9:16 to go when running back Decklan Wychopen scooped up a loose ball and ran into the endzone from 31 yards out.
That momentum would soon switch back in the Kobras favour following a blocked punt that led to a nine-yard touchdown for quarterback Hudson Baum.
“Decklan’s one of those guys that darts around quickly when he has an open field in front of him,” Yockey said. “He’ll mature quickly out there and I think you’ll see the improvements in his game going forward.
“The guys weren’t afraid out there, especially on defence. Hunter Priddle had two picks and he just about had one more in the second half. Latral Foulston was playing at linebacker for us and he had a really strong game for a Grade 9 player.”
The Cobras used the ground game for all three of their touchdowns, as Tristan Benson and Dylan Schmidt also ran across the goal line.
“That game was certainly one for the people who like defence as both teams stepped up on that side of the ball,” Cobras head coach Tavis Lehman said.
“That first game of the year came up on us quick and we could have used some more time to get the offence put together, but we have a good core of veteran players that really helped us get on track.”
The Crusaders will look to get their first win of the season this Friday afternoon, as they’ll pay a visit to the Martensville Royals.
“It’ll be good to have some video for the guys to watch as they’ll have a chance to see some of the mistakes that they can easily correct,” Yockey said.
“It’s going to be another tough game. Martensville loves to pound the ball with their running game so it’ll be another good test for our young guys.”
