Their start was promising against the class of the Moose Jaw High School Football League, but it didn't last.
It was a long day for the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs in a 56-2 loss to the A.E. Peacock Tornadoes on Saturday in Moose Jaw.
The Elecs earned four first downs on their first drive, but squandered a chance to score, and it was all downhill from there.
"It was frustrating. We moved the ball so well on that first drive. Everything just clicked for us, and I think (quarterback) Andrew (Kehler) was about 7-for-9 on that first drive," said Elecs head coach Mark Schott.
"We basically forced them to move away from their bread and butter defence and revamp their defensive system. It would have been a huge, huge psychological boost for us to score some points on that opening drive. At the same time, we showed that we can move the ball against the top team in the province. We should still take something positive away from that. They just kept putting up the points and that opening drive seemed to be more and more significant."
Peacock head coach Blake Buettner told the Moose Jaw Times-Herald that the Elecs came to play.
"Estevan came out really hard. They had a good game plan, and they drove the ball on us."
The Tornadoes scored first on a 40-yard rushing touchdown by Kyle Arndt late in the first quarter.
Later on, Park Andrews caught a 30-yard touchdown pass and Chase Griffin ran 65 yards for another major.
The Elecs' only points came when Peacock fumbled on a punt return and recovered in their own end zone, giving Estevan a safety.
The Tornadoes would take a stranglehold late in the first half with three touchdowns in less than two minutes, taking a 35-2 lead at the half. They scored two more touchdowns in the second half.
For the Elecs, Kehler went 13-for-23 for 89 yards, while receiver Kolby Dyck had four catches for 32 yards.
Schott said it was a middling day for the team's offence.
"We can definitely be better. That opening drive was great, but then they started getting more pressure in the backfield and disrupting our timing. Andrew just didn't have the time he needed to see the open spots on the field and open receivers. That put us out of sync a little bit. It took us awhile to get back on track.
"All things considered, there's definitely room for improvement, but it's still a positive knowing we can move the ball on a team of that calibre. We've just gotta put up points and finish drives."
Schott added his team could have responded better to the early turn of events.
"We need to be mentally tough and know how to respond to adversity. Not everything's going to go our way. We've gotta figure out a way to bounce back."
He said it was tough for his defence to handle Peacock because they use six receivers to spread the offence.
"That creates mismatch problems when you have to cover one of those receivers with a linebacker. They created a lot of mismatches that way and were able to get some big plays because of it. We made some adjustments at halftime and it did address some of those coverage issues, but we gotta acknowledge the calibre of team we were playing, too. They're the reigning provincial champions, a fantastic team.
That's the level we're trying to get to as a team and as a program," Schott said.
There were some bright spots on defence, however, including a third down stop at midfield and an interception in the end zone.
"We did some good things on both sides of the ball, but we just need to play more of a complete game and until we do that, we're going to be digging ourselves holes that we need to climb out of," Schott said.
The Elecs will visit the Central Cyclones in Moose Jaw on Saturday. Schott said pass coverage is among the things the team will work on this week.
"Central likes to blitz a lot, so we need to make sure our offensive line and blocking scheme is prepared for that. Also, playing with an edge and playing with some passion. We just didn't seem to have that same edge that we had against Weyburn (in a 31-14 loss on Sept. 13). But in that game, penalties got us in trouble, so we need to play with an edge within the rules. Be a physical team, but be clean about it."
