After a 0-4 start to their Regina minor Football season the YRHS Jr. Raiders continued their bounce back in the second half of the season with a sixty point performance over Weyburn.
The Raiders opened up the game with four straight scoring drives and dictated play throughout the game as they gave younger players chances to run and carry the ball in the second half of the game. Coach Mike Jarvis felt the team needed a win like this, but also mentioned that "You never want to run the score up on anybody." Jarvis put in his younger guys in the third and fourth quarter out of respect for Weyburn, but said "you still have to play football, but the other team has to make the tackles."
With the win the Raiders are now sitting in the seventh/eighth area in the RMF Bantam Division standings which has them on the playoff bubble with two games to go. The top eight teams make the playoffs so the Raiders will need to help themselves out if they want to see their season continue. Coach Jarvis knows his team will be in tough with a road game in Lumsden and does not want his team to rest its laurels on a 62-6 victory. "Basically you have to forget about this game, and prepare for the next ones like you did when you were losing" said Jarvis.
Jarvis said he was happy with how the young guys played in the second half, especially on the offensive line and he was glad to see young players who typically don't get the spotlight get to come out and make plays and get snaps.
The Raiders close out their season with a road contest in Lumsden before a final home game against the Dinos at Century Field in what will have major implications on the Raiders playoff hopes and will have a playoff intensity in each of them as the Raiders continue their must win run that has started since their 0-4 start.
Jarvis mentioned that Lumsden is a tough team and will give the Raiders more of a challenge than this week as they are looking like a playoff team and always play physical.
The Raiders offense will be a key to their victory as in their two wins they have came out much stronger in the first half, which was their demise in their fourth loss of the season at home earlier in the month. Injuries were picked up in the Weyburn game to a couple of players that will need to be evaluated during the week according to Jarvis that might see the Raiders forced to fine tune their lineup against Lumsden.
With two weeks left the Raiders have two must win games, only time will tell if the Raiders will see the playoffs, but a road win in Lumsden would go a long way to cementing their place in the RMF top eight.
