The Estevan Century 21 peewee Chargers football team came up just short in a 20-14 loss to the Weyburn Ravens last Wednesday at Dana Quewezance Memorial Field.
Down by six with 50 seconds left on the clock, the Chargers orchestrated a long 34-yard drive from their own 36-yard line on the strength of quarterback Kaleb Bechtold’s arm, but an interception with 5 seconds left on the clock by Weyburn Ravens safety Zander Muxlow stopped them in their tracks. After being burned by the Estevan passing attack for most of the night, Ravens head coach Rob Umbach admitted they were playing the pass on that play.
“We dropped three guys back actually that time,” said Umbach, whose team moved up to 2-3 with the win. The Chargers fell to 3-2 with the loss.
Chargers head coach Jason Bresciani said they needed a quick score, so a passing attack was the best way to move the ball downfield. He said the Ravens were playing for the run all game making the Chargers’ offensive plan one that goes through the air.
Bechtold excelled with the pass and showed off his strong arm throughout the game, but it was replacement quarterback Alex Waldegger who scored the lone passing touchdown of the game while subbing in for the starter with just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Waldegger delivered a strike to Curtis Phillipchuk from the Weyburn 23-yard line on the play and then kicked the convert to move the Chargers to within six.
Bechtold first got Estevan on the board with 57 seconds left in the third quarter when he kept the ball and ran sideways across the field at Weyburn’s two yard line before sweeping into the end zone. Weyburn got all their points in the first 16 minutes of the game on a six yard run and convert by Ben Manning followed by a 28 yard touchdown run by Kaleb Briston-Berg, which Manning converted, and finally a one yard punch in by Ravens quarterback Ryan Hicks.
“We just caught them off guard,” said Umbach. “We ran up the middle pretty much and we broke a couple big ones and they seemed to make adjustments after that. Just ran hard up the middle with good blocking and hard running by the running backs.”
Bresciani said the Ravens focused on preventing their stronger defenders from getting into the backfield to stop the run during the opening quarter and first few minutes of the second. He said they countered the attack by filling up the box and not giving them any gaps, which led to their strong showing in the final 32 minutes.
“It’s momentum,” said Bresciani about what the Chargers can gain from the strong second half. “It’s some positives we can take into next week’s game.”
Umbach said holding onto the 20-14 win is great for his club because it further knocks down the rough start they had at the beginning of the season. He said after pilling up a 0-2 record the club squeezed out a win against the Moose Jaw Bombers by one touchdown, then lost by one touchdown to the Moose Jaw Lions and now they have their second victory by a single score.
“It’s good,” he said. “They’re showing they can compete with these teams and I think it makes them feel real good they won here today and scored more than one touchdown for the first time in a game.”
