There were a lot of encouraging plays by the Estevan Sherritt Coal Miners in the second half on Sunday, but the damage had already been done.
Despite their late efforts, the Miners fell to 0-4 on the season with a 26-6 loss to the Regina Gaitors at Dana Quewezance Memorial Field.
The Gaitors, coached by Saskatchewan Roughrider legend Gene Makowsky, grabbed a 20-0 lead in the first half, with two of those touchdowns coming in the second quarter.
"I'll be honest, I was quite disappointed with our team in the first half. The blocking wasn't there for our offence, and I was expecting more, especially after that breakthrough we had last week. Basically, that's all it is, it's that blocking. I don't know what more we can do to these kids to tell them once the blocking's there, you'll see your ball carrier reach the end zone. At practice against your own team, they'll block till the cows come home. But once we get to a game, it's poor," said Miners head coach Wanda Harron.
"We did see some better blocking come the fourth quarter, but I don't know why it takes us till the fourth quarter to get that blocking."
Harron added she was disappointed that the Gaitors were able to run the ball wide and then romp to the end zone.
Regina added another touchdown early in the third quarter, but the Miners' defence made some big plays after that.
Estevan got on the board shortly after the Regina touchdown. Quarterback Kaleb Bechtold ran the ball for 19 yards on third down. Two plays later, running back James Knibbs rushed 50 yards for a touchdown.
The Miners forced a couple of turnovers in the final 10 minutes of the game. They recovered a fumble in the red zone. Then, on the Gaitors' next possession, the Miners got a stop in the red zone, followed by an interception by Lucas Rooks in the end zone.
The Miners got close to the end zone again in the final minute, but couldn't punch it in. Running back Keagan Merriman, playing with a hand injury, ripped off a 54-yard run from his own five-yard line, and the Miners kept driving until they got inside the 15.
Other turnovers came from Tanyan Hauck, who recovered a fumble on the first series of the game, and Jayden Florizone, who had an interception.
"Tanyan's a real go-getter. He's one of our smaller players, but he knows the key to success for football, no matter how big you are, is to get low. He is always in tackling low. He's a tackling machine," Harron said.
She added Boden Dukart, Jayden Florizone and Kolby Forseth were other defensive players who stood out, while Janessa Ireland played the whole game on the defensive line with an injured foot.
"So defensively, we're good, it's just I don't know if we're not on them enough as coaches to remember to watch that wide run. What we did see today though is we weren't wide enough at times and then our tacklers would come inside, instead of staying wide and taking the proper angle."
Harron said the bright spots on offence included Bechtold, Knibbs and Merriman.
In addition, Michael Meshke was moved from receiver to slotback due to injuries and "I was floored by what I saw for blocking from him," Harron said.
The Miners will host the Regina Alouettes on Sunday at noon.
