The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs failed to make any gains from last week’s win, losing 70-12 to the Swift Current Comprehensive School Colts at Woodlawn Field on Saturday.
“It’s tough to be successful when you dig yourself a big hole really early in the game and I think that’s the most disappointing part,” said Mark Schott, head coach of the Elecs. “We just didn’t have that urgency and that fire that you would expect coming off a big home win and (it being) our last home game of the season. Swift Current definitely had it and it showed.”
The Elecs turned over the ball on their first possession by losing a third-and-one gamble on their own 34-yard line, which resulted in the Colts taking a quick 1-0 lead courtesy of a Tristan Lockman punt into the end zone that ECS could not return. The Elecs looked to turn the corner on their next possession with quarterback Andrew Kehler making a long pass while scrambling out of the pocket to Cameron Rioux that he carried to the Colts 44-yard line. A fumble off a handoff on the next play turned the ball over and Lockman began his steady charge to the end zone.
“It was nice to get something going early and then right after the touchdown on special teams our kick return team forces a fumble and we score right away off of that, so you start to breathe a little easier when you know you’re going to be rolling a little bit,” said Colts head coach Derek Murdoch. “Quick starts are always nice. You get the other team on their heels and you can see them come down a little bit and you puff up.”
Lockman was an unstoppable force for the Colts the whole game notching 10 carries for 246 yards, two punts for 85 yards and the single, nine one-point converts and three rushing touchdowns. Murdoch said their running back is a big part of the offence, obviously, and he’s played a major role in the club racking up a 3-1 record this season with their only loss coming when Lockman sat out with an illness.
“We’ve been slowly building to get better, so we’ve been on the wrong side of these kinds of games for a long time,” he said. “Some of our Grade 12s when they were in Grade 9 we had three or four games like this. So, they’re excited but they also understand you want to be respectful and play the game hard the whole way.”
Schott said the Elecs (1-4) will be facing another offensive standout in receiver Jonah Branning in their final regular season game this Thursday at Moose Jaw’s Gutheridge Field against the Central Collegiate Cyclones (1-3). He said they’ll work with their defensive backs this week in practice to prepare for the match and address some safety help over top, but they’ll need their front seven on defence to step up if they hope to make some gains.
“We have to be better next week,” said Schott. “The positive thing is we get to flip the page really quick on this game.”
