The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs knew they were in tough on Thursday, but they probably didn't expect to surrender 55 points in the first half.
The ECS football team was no match for the undefeated Yorkton Raiders, falling 58-6 at Dana Quewezance Memorial Field.
The Elecs (1-4) came in riding a wave of momentum after beating Vanier two weeks earlier and giving Central a run for their money on Oct. 5.
But that wasn't nearly enough against Yorkton (5-0), a team that has dominated the Moose Jaw High School Football League this year.
After cruising to a 55-0 lead at the half, the Raiders took their foot off the gas in the second half, with their only points coming in the form of a field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter.
The Elecs' lone touchdown came late in the third quarter, when running back Cole MacCuish ran the ball in from six yards out. They went for two, but failed to punch it in.
Elecs head coach Mark Schott said that although they were facing a formidable opponent, he expected more from his team.
"The first half wasn't exactly the response we were looking for, coming out against one of the top teams in our league. We definitely started slow," he said.
Indeed, the Raiders put eight majors on the board in the first half, four in each quarter.
Four of those were scored by running back Zack Kais.
Yorkton got on the board early, with quarterback David Balyski running the ball 44 yards into the end zone less than two minutes in.
About three minutes later, Kais scored for the first time on a 27-yard run.
He struck again at the 7:38 mark, squeezing out of the grasp of a cluster of Elecs defenders and taking off for 68 yards.
Later in the quarter, an Elecs punt was tipped and sailed into the arms of Caleb Bymak, who ran it down to the 13-yard line.
Two plays later, a touchdown pass to Alex Popoff made it 28-0.
The Raiders kept it up in the second quarter, starting with a 75-yard run by Kais down the left sideline for a major.
Yorkton also scored on a four-yard touchdown pass, a 53-yard catch by Popoff and a 58-yard run by Kais in that quarter.
Schott said his team's inability to contain the Raiders' playmakers was a combination of Yorkton's talent and poor tackling by the Elecs.
"It was a little bit of both. They're undefeated because they're a great team. They execute things well and they have some fast running backs who can easily break (tackles). With that being said, there were lots of opportunities we had to tackle their running backs and bring them down in the backfield, and we just missed tackles," he said.
"We did a fairly good job of getting in the quarterback's face, it's just their fast backs were able to break the play outside."
Several members of the bantam Steelers played with the Elecs on Thursday following the end of their season, and Schott said the coaching staff made sure everyone got some playing time.
One reason for that was the Elecs' condensed schedule. They are in the midst of playing four games in 14 days, which includes yesterday's regular season finale in Swift Current and their quarter-final on Saturday, which will be against either the Central Cyclones (if they beat the Colts) or the Weyburn Eagles (if they lose).
"We wanted to stay fresh and wanted to keep our players healthy and make sure we were ready to go for Tuesday," Schott said.
He added that a win in Swift Current would be key, considering they played Central so close earlier this month.
"(They are) a team we've had success against and we definitely want to see them again, because we think we match up really well with them.
"We just need to come out focused, ready to play right from the opening kickoff. If we do that and play with the energy we've had the last couple of weeks, I think we can play with anybody."
Although Schott noted his team finished Thursday's game relatively healthy, there were a few players a bit banged up, including star receiver Austin Garchinski.
