There was already plenty to celebrate at Dana Quewezance Memorial Field on Saturday, and the Estevan Sherritt Coal Miners added to the good times.
The atom football club turned in an impressive outing in their return to Woodlawn Regional Park, defeating the Regina Cougars 13-6.
After allowing a 95-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, the Miners (1-1) stymied the Cougars' offence the rest of the way and came back with two majors of their own, one late in the first half and another in the fourth quarter.
"Our defence was just so aggressive and we just told them, you go hard on every play," said first-year head coach Wanda Harron.
"As soon as you start getting a little bit of success with kids this age - and one of my co-coaches said, you're on the sideline and you start jumping around and yelling and stuff - they really feed off that. I think that's a case of them starting maybe a little slow, (then) they saw what they could do and then it pumped them up the rest of the game."
The lone Cougars touchdown came with 4:32 left in the first quarter, when Lane Erdelyan evaded the first few tacklers before cutting across to the right side of the field and cruising to the end zone.
Harron said there "was a little bit of deflation" after that, but that the team's confidence grew once the offence got on the field more, a contrast from the team's 36-0 loss to the Regina Bombers on Aug. 18.
Estevan's defence prevented Regina from making any major gains in the final three quarters.
"The key for them all week and all we work on is simple, simple, 'go for the ball and tackle low. If there's two of you guys in there, try and strip the ball away,'" Harron said.
"Granted, this Regina team did lose last week, so maybe we were playing down to a team a little bit more on our level."
The Miners' offence didn't get much going for most of the first half, but that changed late in the second quarter when they drove for their first major of the game.
Shanelle Rioux ran 20 yards down to the Cougars' 26-yard-line, and two plays later, Kade Bachorcik found daylight for a 21-yard romp to the end zone, giving his team a 7-6 lead.
"What seemed to sort of click is they learned, maybe not at the beginning of the game, but a little bit later in, they have to block more to get any success," said Harron. "We did key one of our bigger players on the O-line up against one of their bigger players and it seemed we started having a bit of success then. Once they saw what kind of success we were having by doing their jobs a little bit better (compared to the season opener), the ball kept moving."
The Miners' defence continued to be effective in the third quarter, with Matthew Getschel and Jonah Bachorcik each recovering fumbles. The second one was deep in Regina territory and led to Estevan having first and goal on the two-yard line, but after two rushing attempts and one incomplete pass, they failed to punch it over the goal line.
But they did extend their lead with 7:06 left in the fourth quarter, when Rioux ran the ball for a 15-yard major.
The Miners were ruled to have made an illegal handoff on the point-after attempt, leaving the score at 13-6.
Harron credited offensive co-ordinator Steve McLellan and defensive co-ordinator Kevin Mortenson with preparing the players to win on Football Day in Estevan, which marked the first football games played at the field since the 2011 floods.
It is believed to be only the second victory since the atom club began in 2008, the other coming on Sept. 4, 2010, when they defeated the Regina Cardinals 36-30.
"I want to thank my co-coaches for doing such a great job with these kids. We go into the week with a solid practice plan to keep the kids moving and interested. The key is not to lose their attention. And I think we're doing a good job, as the majority of them want to practise more than the two hours we have set. That's a good sign to have kids excited about practising," she said.
The Miners' next game is on Saturday when they visit the Cardinals.
