The Humboldt Collegiate Mohawks football team saw their season come to an end with a 26-14 loss against the Kindersley Kobras in the provincial semi-finals in Kindersley on Nov. 4.
Mistakes were a big difference in the ball game, noted Mohawks head coach Cory Popoff, who pointed to turnovers on offense, and big plays allowed on defense as a big difference in the ball game.
“I don’t think we were ever out of the game really until the dying minutes of the fourth quarter but the score ended up the way it ended up as a result of our play.”
Heading into the contest one of the keys for the Mohawks was their blocking on the offensive line, which struggled at times admitted Popoff.
“When we went to a max protection scheme our blocking seemed to work out a whole lot better and gave our quarterback time to make some passes…It’s something we’re going to have to work on this upcoming year and we’re well on our way.”
Defensively Popoff was relatively pleased with how his team played, noting they were frustrating the Kobras offense, but an inability to get off the field ultimately was their downfall.
“As in any football game if the defense is on the field a little too long it grinds on a team and you make mistakes.”
Despite struggling with mistakes throughout the contest Popoff noted his team never gave up, which was a common theme throughout the season.
Looking back on the season Popoff is proud of where his team has come.
“If we were to take a look at the beginning of the year and now, our play has improved tremendously.”
With just three players graduating off this year’s club the team will return nearly in tact next season, and the experience gained over the course of this season will be invaluable to next year’s squad, noted Popoff.
“The experience that we gained this season, especially these last couple of weeks, it’ll put us right on track to be very successful for the upcoming year, provided we have a good offseason with some strength training. And of course the injury bug can stay away as well.”
Building strength will be the most important part of the Mohawks’ offseason, says Popoff, who notes that it is one of the few things the coaches cannot teach.
“Coaches can always help out with their skills, they can help out with their conditioning, they can also help out a little bit with their speed. However physical strength is something that you really can’t coach. It’s something that these kids have to do on their own and that goes the same in any football program.”
Popoff says he and the rest of his coaching staff are looking forward to next season, and says expectations for the team are quite high.
“We look forward to being a strong contender in our conference and in the province. A lot of the experience is already in place, there’s lots of returning starters next year and we’ll certainly have a different tone right off the hop.”
