On a beautiful Saskatchewan fall afternoon, the Yorkton Minor Football program reached a milestone as the Atom Gridders won their first home game ever over the Regina Canadians in a 21-6 victory. The Gridder defense dominated a Canadians team throughout the game and allowed the offense to win the game for them with a 21 point performance.
The game's turning point came on a goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter when a questionable option call by the Canadians led to a botched pitch which the Gridders scooped up prevented the Canadians from making it a one score game. However the ref mistakenly blew his whistle as an incomplete pass then allowed the change of possession, drawing the ire of the Canadians coach who justifiably protested the call. Atom Gridders offensive coordinator Jason Boyda said of the call, "Everyone is human, and although the ref did blow his whistle it was a fumble." Boyda also questioned the play calling of the opposition as they ran an option pitch on the goal line, something that is not common in Canadian or minor football at this level. With the added advantage of having an extra yard at the line of scrimmage, most teams opt to punch in the ball via a quarterback sneak or a simple running back dive. The play call will likely serve as an excuse for the Canadians, but it was a case of either team getting a bad call in the situation as the referee blowing his whistle early would have cost the Gridders a fumble recovery as the ball was clearly advanced backwards and was not an incomplete pass situation, making the ball live.
After the goal line stand the Gridders running back corps made several big gains, flipping the field position game while chewing up the clock and sealing the win. The running game is a hallmark of Boyda's offensive strategy and he made it clear after the game by mentioning that he believes in "Grounding and pounding it, and if we can control the clock and keep their offense off the field it allows us opportunities to win football games." Boyda was impressed with how well the Canadians tackled, especially in the open field and said it provided a new challenge for their running attack. Jordan Rusnack's quarterback skills were a big part of the Gridders overcoming the Canadians defense as his leadership on the field was lauded by Boyda postgame. Rusnack was constantly making sure the Gridders offense was organized and prevented many of the chaotic confusion that is so common in minor football as players get used to playcalling and where they need to be on the field. Rusnack was very vocal in making sure his line and receivers were in the correct place and it showed in the lack of penalties the Gridders were given in the game. The offensive line also did an outstanding job in giving the running backs room to bust out big gains, specifically in the aforementioned fourth quarter when the line did well in downfield blocking as the Gridders worked the outside on sweep plays to great success.
An area of the game Boyda mentioned the offense needed work on was turnovers as the Gridders did end up giving the ball away on a couple of occasions despite all of their offensive success, which gave the Canadians chances to take over the ballgame. The win puts the Raiders at 3-1 at the halfway point of the Regina Minor Football season, giving the young Gridders great odds of a high playoff seed and championship contention on the horizon. Coach Boyda was confident when asked about team expectations in the future and said, "Every time we lace them up, and strap on the pads, we expect to win as we have a talented group of kids this year." A weekend road game in Regina against the North Griffins will further lay out the Gridders playoff hopes and a win over the 1-3 Griffins will certainly go a long way in cementing those playoff aspirations after a milestone home win.
