With another broken tackle or two, the Estevan Sherritt Coal Miners may have had a better fate.0
The atom football club lost 13-6 to the Regina Lions in the Estevan Boston Pizza Bowl on Saturday, with their final drive stopping short on the 30-yard line to end the game.
"The way the offence played in that last minute, if we would have had an extra 30 seconds, I honestly think there would have been a different outcome," said Miners head coach Wanda Harron. "But hopefully this will show the kids that you can't take any plays off, and they'll remember this when they come back next season."
Trailing by a converted touchdown, the Miners got two big gains from Shanelle Rioux in the final minute, then Kade Bachorcik took off with the ball on the last play of the fourth quarter.
"I honestly thought he was going to break it, but he was stopped on about the 30," Harron said.
The Miners' touchdown came in the second quarter. After driving down the field, they were stuffed twice on the Lions' three-yard line, but they went for it and Kyler Dutka went up the middle and over the plane. The convert failed.
"(It was) a nice march highlighted by getting the blocking we've been looking for all season," Harron said.
The Lions also scored in the second quarter, converting on a long passing play to take a 7-6 lead at the half.
"Again, it was a case of our defensive backs seeing the quarterback scramble and then not staying with their receiver," Harron noted.
The Lions reached the end zone again in the fourth quarter on the ground, with the Miners stopping the extra point.
Harron said her team blocked well early, but "sort of took the middle part of the game off."
On defence, Cyrus Rooks had an interception on the last play of the first half, while Kade Lukye made some key tackles, including some in the backfield.
"The game was a very entertaining one, and I don't think we could have asked much more of the kids. The effort was there. I'm really proud of them," Harron said.
The Miners finished the season with a 1-5 regular season record, along with the loss in the bowl game. Harron pointed out that they were in the thick of it in three of those defeats, and that it might be "a case of us needing to learn how to win."
Harron said that although the record wasn't good enough, there was improvement this season, crediting that to her coaching staff, which includes offensive co-ordinator Steve McLellan and defensive co-ordinator Kevin Mortenson, along with Scott Saigeon, Paul Duncan, Chris Rensby, Jason Stewart, James Trobert, Kevin Sutter, Mazen Borhot, Lonnie Rooks and Jamie Taillon and managers Tammy Neff and Trish Meshke. Elecs players Justyn Taillon, Austin Haukeness, Riley Meshke and Quentin Vanderschaff also helped out.
