A week after shaking up the Regina Minor Football ranks, the Yorkton PeeWee Gridders were back at it this past Saturday.
The Gridders were paid a visit by the White City Riders, as the two teams locked horns at Yorkton's Century Field.
The Gridders jumped on the Riders right away, securing a 14-0 lead as the game neared halftime.
However, the Riders seized momentum with a score of their own to make it 14-6 at the break.
As Gridders Head Coach Jason Farrell indicates, the Riders grabbed momentum due to an adjustment by their defence.
"We lost momentum at the end of the first half because they started blitzing and our line wasn't adjusting to pick up the blitz," he points out.
Fortunately for Farrell, his challenge to the tackles and slotbacks to improve their blocking was answered in the second half, nullifying the Rider blitz.
With the Riders defence accounted for, the Gridders blew the game wide open in the third quarter.
Midway through the third quarter, backup running back Darius Haberstock ran a sweep to the right that was sniffed out by the Rider defence. Not to be deterred, Haberstock made a swift cutback across the line of scrimmage and saw nothing but daylight as he reached the endzone for a touchdown.
"I just saw (that) there was no room in front of me so I just cut it to the left and scored," Haberstock explains.
Farrell was impressed by his running back's football intuition.
"Not many players have the football mind to know that when their play is closed on their side of the side that there's another side of the field to run to. That's exactly what he did."
Normally just a defensive player, Haberstock received reps at running back during the week, in part to provide relief for the Gridders "workhorse" back Brendon Weber. The move paid off big-time for the Gridders, as a refreshed Weber continued to bowl over would-be tacklers while Haberstock provided a necessary change of pace.
With the offence providing the necessary points, the Yorkton defence took over in the fourth quarter.
The Gridder 'D' forced consecutive three-and-outs and did not allow White City to sniff the endzone.
The effort of the defence was epitomized by linebacker Jaden Porte, who made a couple of excellent tackles as the Rider running backs attempted to run to the outside.
Haberstock then put the finishing touches on the game, this time on defence, with a goal-line interception as the clock winded down.
With the Gridders' improvement evident at every position, Farrell was fired up about the team's discipline.
"We had three high tackle or horse collars last week, which are 15-yard penalties. We didn't have one this week," he observes, "The tackling's improved, the blocking's improved, the flow is improved. It was just an all-around better game by everybody."
With the 22-6 victory, the Yorkton Gridders improved to 2-0 on the season.
The team's next game will be at noon on Saturday - as the Regina Vikings will take on the Gridders at Century Field.
