Four current members of the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs football team and one future ECS star earned a chance to experience a weekend of all-American football in Arlington, Texas, last month.
Spruce Ridge School Grade 7 student Hunter Eagles competed in the Texas School of Football 2016 International Tournament and Showcase Games with the South Saskatchewan Selects under-12 team from Feb. 18 to 21. He was joined at the tournament by fellow local football players Donny Mortenson, Troy Leptich, Garett Ford and Keaten Tarnes, who all suited up for the Selects U16 championship winning team.
“We actually destroyed everybody to be honest,” said Selects offensive line right guard Leptich, 17, about their four-game rout at the tournament.
The U16 Selects opened the competition with a 33-0 win over the Euless Longhorns on Feb. 18 in the showcase game before defeating a Georgia club 19-0 and the North Oak Cliff Eagles 27-12 on the second and third days of the tournament placing them into the Feb. 21 championship game where they once again faced the Eagles.
“It was really back-and-forth considering it was raining, but we had a lot of good pushes on the offence,” said Leptich, who is a Grade 11 student at ECS. “We scored a bunch of touchdowns with our pass game, which turned out very well for us.”
Leptich said they actually didn’t manage to score their first touchdown until the second quarter and the momentum gained from that was diminished by the ever-increasing rain. He said their snapper then started having a hard time getting the ball into the quarterback’s hands, so they resorted to whatever would work and pulled out the win.
“The selection process for our team was pretty strong,” added Ford, 17 and a Grade 12 student at ECS, who also suited up as an offensive line right guard with the Selects. “We started out with some pretty good guys and just the practices, going through everything every other weekend like that, then doing stuff on your own time (made the difference). Obviously they practised too. They practised hard, but I think it just comes down to wanting it more out there.”
Tarnes, 16, said they played NFL rules football in the tournament, which was a bit of a challenge for them as they’re used to the Canadian brand of the game. He said the field was narrower and they were playing four-down football in Texas, but the many practices they’ve gone through at the Yara Centre in Moose Jaw since the selection camp in November prepared them for the changes.
The ECS Grade 11 student said the Selects’ tryout process began with four two-hour sessions in Moose Jaw that tested their skill development. He said players from across Southern Saskatchewan competed for a spot on the team and the chance for the once-in-a-lifetime football experience in Texas.
“My friend (Cameron Rioux), he actually didn’t make the team, (but) he was the one who told me about the team,” said Tarnes, who played wide receiver for the Selects. “It was actually my first time playing football (in 2015-16) in seven years. He told me about this team, so I was thinking about just trying out and maybe gaining some experience for next year so I can get better. I didn’t really think I would make the team and I actually did, so it was pretty cool.”
Eagles, 12, said his U12 Selects team lost their first game at the tournament, a 40-20 defeat to the DFW Ravens, won their second, a 26-0 victory over the G. P. Toros, and lost their third, a 27-0 setback to the Tri-City Titans, placing them outside of a medal finish. The Selects outside linebacker said the highlights of the trip for him were making a pick six to open up the scoring in the first quarter of their win over the Toros and playing in front of the many Saskatchewan fans who followed them down south for the games.
“A lot of the kids’ parents came to our games, so there were lots of people out there to support us,” added Mortenson, 16 and a Grade 11 ECS student who played wide receiver for the Selects. “It was really nice to hear. Anything we did good we’d hear all the fans and it got everybody pumped up.”
Mortenson said the tough practice schedule over the past three months that saw the kids travel to Moose Jaw every second weekend for two days of intense training was well worth the effort. He said their experience playing football in Texas was really fun and also helped them learn more about the game.
“It was pretty crazy,” he said. “It was really intense. Everyone was really nice down there. Everyone was saying we were blessed to be there and it was just an awesome experience.”
