An early blast of winter from Mother Nature has led to a reshuffling of games for North Battleford's high school football teams.
The John Paul II Crusaders were set to go on the road Thursday to face the Warman Wolverines, but that game was cancelled due to the weather.
“All of the games in the district were cancelled,” Crusaders head coach Bruce Yockey said. “I know on our end, our bus provider (Venture West Charters) wasn’t too keen on heading out on the highway.”
As a result of the cancelation, the Crusaders will travel to Warman Tuesday afternoon.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Crusaders, as they will then travel to Meadow Lake for their regular season finale Friday.
“On the one hand, the extra couple of days off allows to get some more practice in and it gives a couple of our injured players a chance to heal up a little bit,” Yockey said.
“However, it does mean that it’s going to be a pretty hectic final week with two games in a couple of days. You need to be ready for anything though at this time of year, as you can never tell what the weather is going to be like in Saskatcheawn.”
Meanwhile, the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings were to have played at Beaver Lions Stadium Friday night against the Bishop James Mahoney Saints of Saskatoon.
However, a decision was made Thursday to move the game to Saskatoon and have it take place at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
“The weather system that moved through here was exactly as it was advertised,” Vikings head coach Mike Humeeny said. “I went over to the field Thursday morning and it already had about five to six inches on it.
“In talking wih the city officials, they were quite hestitant on doing any work on the field since the ground isn’t frozen yet, and I agree with that. The field in Saskatoon is hosting a number of games already and it proved to be a great fit for both teams.”
The Vikings will be back in Saskatoon next Thursday to take on the Evan Hardy Souls to wrap up their campaign.
