The Estevan Century 21 peewee Chargers gave the Weyburn Eagles everything they could handle in a 28-14 Moose Jaw Minor Football league semifinal loss at Darold Kot Field on Saturday.
“We played great,” said Chargers safety Hunter Eagles, who recorded numerous defensive tackles in the game. “There was just some mistakes that we could have not made. It was some fumbles, some unnecessary penalties and stuff.”
After feeling each other out in each team's first few possessions of the game, Weyburn got on the board first when Eagles running back Keith Allin ran to the house from Estevan's 40-yard line with 4:31 left in the first quarter. A convert by kicker Parker Mantei then failed to split the uprights leaving Weyburn with an early 6-0 lead.
Both teams battled around the centre of the field for the rest of the first quarter until Eagles defender Rylan Erb made a play that could have broke the game in Weyburn's favour. With less than 30 seconds left on the clock Erb blocked a Chargers punt, picked up the ball and ran it in for a 60-yard touchdown. After a completed convert by Mantei the Eagles entered the second quarter with a 14-0 lead.
“That was huge,” said Eagles head coach Chris Michel, noting it gave them some breathing room heading into the half after neither team managed to score in the second quarter. “It created a big lift for the entire team.”
Jason Bresciani, head coach of the Chargers, said his squad came into Weyburn ready to play and they accomplished that through moving the ball throughout the game and not giving up despite the score heading into the final 24 minutes. He said that enabled them to gain the momentum again in the second half leading them to make the game a close affair.
“We knew we weren't out of the game,” said Bresciani. “We just bared down and buckled up and kept on going.”
A stifling defence by Weyburn kept the Estevan offence at bay for the first six minutes of the third quarter despite continued pressure from Chargers quarterback Kaleb Bechtold with both the run and pass. With 5:53 left Bechtold kept the ball and ran it 25 yards down the sidelines to the Weyburn 23-yard line.
After a turnover on downs and failure by the Eagles to move the ball on their possession, the Chargers found themselves at Weyburn's 26-yard line with a little over a minute to go in the third. Chargers' running back Kyle Mack then moved the ball into the red zone before completing a 19-yard run up the middle with 52 seconds left in the frame. After a Bechtold convert, the score stood at 14-8 heading into the final quarter.
“It was close to the end zone, so I just ran as fast as I could down the middle and I was gone,” said Mack.
Mantei replied for the Eagles 1:44 into the fourth quarter with a 42-yard run for a touchdown to put the lead at 14 points once again. Despite numerous chances from close to the Weyburn end zone during the Chargers' next few possessions, the Eagles defence kept Estevan at bay.
“That's our defence all year,” said Michel, whose team will face the Moose Jaw Riders in the MJFL finals on Friday. “In the first six games we didn't even give up a single point. Then we showed some cracks in our defence, but, those guys, they bend a little bit but they don't break.”
With a little over two minutes remaining in the game, Estevan gained possession of the ball on their own 50-yard line. Two strong runs by Mack brought the offence to Weyburn's 46-yard line. Then Bechtold kept the ball and ran 45 yards up the sidelines into the Weyburn end zone to bring the score to 20-14 with 1:29 remaining.
“The offence did pretty good,” said Bechtold. “We could have cleaned up some of the fumbles and unnecessary roughness and offsides, but overall it was a pretty good game. Mack had a good game. The offence had a good game. Keegan Merriman had a good game. It was good all around.”
On Weyburn's first possession after the score, Mantei made a 51-yard run to Estevan's 10-yard line. Allin finished off the scoring with a punch-in from the one and combined with the Mantei convert that brought the score to 28-14.
“That was something special this year,” said Bechtold, who will join the Steelers next season with Mack and Eagles. “Last year in the Regina league we didn't even win a game. We tied one and that was pretty upsetting. To go out there and to go 5-2 in the regular season and win a playoff game, that's awesome.”
