The Vanier Vikings senior boys football team handed the ball to their star running back again and again in their 36-14 defeat of the Estevan Elecs Saturday at Gutheridge Field in Moose Jaw.
Vikings RB Kelton Kouri carried the ball 22 times and amassed 325 yards for an average of 14.8 yards per carry against the Elecs (0-2). Kouri also accounted for four of Vanier’s (1-1) five touchdowns.
“They gave the ball to their running back on their first play and he ran about 75 to 80 yards down the field for a touchdown,” said Elecs head coach Mark Schott. “We had some issues containing the running back in the first half and he put up a couple more touchdowns and we were down 20-0 at half. As a defence we were making him cut back, which is what you want to do, but he was such a high level running back that he could make something out of nothing. It was a little frustrating as a coach and a defence, but at the same time you have to give him credit.”
It was more of the same in the third quarter. After the Vikings’ Brett Ross ran in a two-yard touchdown with 10 minutes left in the frame, Kouri got on the board again with a two-yard punch in for his fourth TD to make the score 33-0.
The Elecs got on the board in the fourth quarter with Keaton Tarnes catching a nine-yard pass from quarterback Andrew Kehler with 4:39 remaining before Dallas Dowhanuik scored on a 19-yard pass and run play with 1:19 left. Tarnes also scored two on the final convert to bring the Elecs up to 14 points.
“We finally started to click as an offence in the fourth quarter connecting on some passes and getting some good power running plays in, but we got to be able to do that right at the start of the game,” said Schott. “Otherwise we’re going to dig ourselves a big hole week in and week out and it’s tough to come back from 24, 28-0 against teams in this league.”
Schott said there were a few members of their team playing new positions on defence due to a few guys missing for the game and the Vikings “definitely outweighed” them leading to a successful running environment. He said despite those odds heading in his defence played hard and contributed some tackles for losses in the backfield, which they’ll need to do again this Friday when Estevan hosts the Yorkton Raiders in their home opener at Dana Quewezance Memorial Field.
“We’re hoping to get a good week of practice in,” he said. “Our numbers at practice have been a little up and down recently and that makes it difficult to accomplish much as a team when we’re out on the practice field, so if we can get a good week of practice in and we can get guys familiar with positions that they played against Vanier and a little bit more reps on the practice field then I think that we will be a little bit more prepared for Yorkton as a defence.
“Offensively we need to get firing right from the start of the game, so we’re hoping to fine tune that and just execute better over the practice week and hopefully transfer it into the game on Friday.”
