When the weather is nice, an aerial attack is more possible in football.
But when the weather is like it was Saturday morning, with a biting wind and cold temperatures, the ground game in the 12-12 tie between the Estevan Power Dodge atom Cudas and Weyburn Cardinals at Woodlawn Park is about as good as you can ask for.
“The weather dictated that there were a lot of run plays,” said Kevin Mortenson, head coach of the Cudas. “The kids did excellent for being as young as they are. They don’t have a lot of experience in the game and it was a lot of fun.”
The Cudas have a short exhibition only schedule, with a pair of games each against the Weyburn Cardinals and Moosomin. Their first game was the previous week against the Cardinals, which the Cardinals won.
It looked much like the Cardinals would have enough time to march down the field and score late against the Cudas but the defence held tight and earned the tie.
Overall, the game represented a good introduction to the order and understanding of plays needed for minor football.
“We had a couple of penalties that didn’t go our way and had a touchdown called back because of offside but the kids kept playing and were just eager to get out on the field and get warm when they were all huddled up here on the bench,” said Mortenson.
Some of the mistakes that were made are just a part of atom football with kids still learning some of the aspects of the sport, let alone specific positions. Even with the wind they tried a couple of pass plays, one of which early ended in a Weyburn interception.
“I just wish it was a little warmer,” Mortenson said.
One of the standouts was Truman Cieplinski on both sides of the ball with some of the best tackling on the field for either team.
“This is his third year,” said Mortenson. “We wanted to get some experience on both sides of the ball to help the kids.”
The Cudas play at home Friday against Moosomin but Mortenson isn’t sure whether they’ll play nine-man or 12-man football as they played against Weyburn. When the Cudas go to Moosomin n the Thanksgiving weekend, they’ll be playing nine-man.
“Usually in Estevan we play 12-man,” he said.
