After a successful 2012 season that saw the Raiders host a home playoff game for the first time since the early 90's on the route to the Moose Jaw High School Football League Championship Game in just their first year in the league, the Raiders have entered spring camp with one thing in mind: Do one better than last year.
The 2012 Raiders went into the MJHSFL Final banged up and beat down and could not match up with the depth of Moose Jaw Peacock and had to settle for second place, now with just six guys gone from last year's top ranked defense and offense, the Raiders are looking to contend for a provincial title come the fall, making this spring camp season an exciting one for head coach Roby Sharpe and offensive coordinator Jason Boyda. Installing a new system to replace league MVP Dalton Fichtner with new quarterback David Balysky makes the time the team has together a critical part of the prep for the fall, but with no official action save for intersquad scrimmage and two controlled scrimmage games in Brandon, this time of year is a love hate relationship for both players and coaches.
"As a player I hated spring camp," mentions coach Sharpe. "The games don't count and you just want to get going for the fall, so it is hard to get fully excited, but we all have to because it is very valuable practice for both the players and coaches to grow as a team and learn the systems we will be using in the fall so it is second nature once the season starts rolling," says Sharpe.
Sharpe also mentioned that the timing of the spring sessions in May sometimes cause conflict with the baseball players and track athletes who have other commitments, putting another wrinkle into the spring camp. Sharpe promotes his players to play other sports, meaning that the absence of some key players is something that is a part of the spring camp.
Yet the spring camp has still created some good excitement inside the program as new quarterback David Balysky has began to grow into the zone read offense that offensive coordinator Jason Boyda has designed for the mobile Balysky, who starred at running back and wideout last season.
While Fichtner was one of the best runners in the league last season and as a scrambling quarterback will leave big shoes to fill at the pivot, Boyda believes that what Balysky brings to the table will allow the Raiders offense to not skip a beat in 2013.
"Fichtner is and was a special player and it showed in how good of an offensive team we were last season, but I feel that David can step right in and show his own strengths as a runner and a passer in the system we have designed around him," says Boyda.
That system will be largely based on the new in vogue offensive system for scrambling quarterbacks, the zone read offense that is employed by the likes of the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins. "I like to compare Balysky to more of a new style of scrambling quarterback that can run with power as a tailback while being able to make accurate passes while Fichtner was more of your typical Mike Vick type of scrambling quarterback where he would make something happen out of broken plays and on scrambles whereas Balysky has running back experience and can hit the holes on designed plays with our offensive line," explains Boyda.
Beyond the replacement of Fichtner at the quarterback position the Raiders return a very high number of offensive weapons losing slotback Layne Hull and center Rein Nagy. In their place will be receiver Alex Popoff, who led the Jr. Raiders to the RMF Championship Game last fall and will be counted on to continue his dynamic play in the passing game over to the senior game. At center, Larren Clark will be under center as the Raiders will have an entirely new partnership under center as Clark will move into a Raiders offensive line that is their team's strong point.
Behind the offensive line, the Raiders running game wrecked havoc on the Moose Jaw league last season, with tailback Zack Kais nearly leading the league in rushing despite being out for the end of the regular season as well as the majority of the playoffs.
Kais will be back and healthy in the fall alongside Tyson Haas, who developed his running game in his first ever season playing football after Kais went down. The two will now look to develop a tandem in the backfield with the power running Haas complimenting with the smaller and more agile Kais.
With an offensive line that is losing just one body with a player ready to step in, the Raiders offense should once again be strong and looking for a positive sign going into the summer in their two scrimmages with Brandon and Winnipeg Vincent Massey.
On defense the loss of Hull at linebacker will be cushioned by the return of Grey McKen who is the next in a long line of middle linebackers that always feature in defensive coordinator Ryan Effa and head coach Roby Sharpe's team building philosophy. "We like to put our biggest and best athlete at middle linebacker and we have had some special players come out of that position during our strongest seasons and McKen is as good as any of them" explains Sharpe.
Joining McKen and a hard hitting Raiders defense will be junior standout Caleb Bymak, who was the Jr. Raiders best linebacker in 2012, leading the team with great pass rushing and in the run game and he will be expected to make an impact in his first year as a senior.
Going into Friday's two scrimmages, the focus will not be on winning or losing, but rather on developing into the schemes and sets that the team will run come the fall, giving the team some valuable familiarity once fall training camp begins in preparation for the 2013 season. Roby Sharpe echoed that mindset, "Obviously you want to go out there and execute and make plays to show that what you worked on during winter workouts and spring camp is going to work after the summer, but there is a long way to go until the games matter so the most important thing is playing with fundamentals and making sure everyone gets snaps," closes Sharpe.
