The Sacred Heart High School (SHHS) Senior Saints played an exhibition game at home against the visiting Moosomin Generals. The hard fought contest ended in a 19-19 tie in what was arguably the most exciting end to a local high school football game.
Moosomin attempted a field goal on the last play of the game. The kicker kicked the ball into the end zone. The kick was short but the ball bounced into the Sacred Heart end zone. The Saints back who attempted to field the ball failed to corral the ball initially. When he did finally manage to take possession of the ball the Moosomin defenders were all over him but he managed to bring the ball just out of the end zone to prevent the Generals from scoring a single point and winning the game.
In regular season action against the foam Lake Panthers, Senior Saints head coach Trent Senger reports the team trailed Foam Lake by two points for most of the game. With four seconds left on the clock the Panthers scored a touchdown to claim an 8-0 win in the final game of the regular season.
The first loss of the season dropped the Saints to second place in the conference.
The game was an unbelievable defensive battle, Senger suggests. "Their defense was strong. Our defense proved to be just as strong. We stopped them eight times on third (down) and less than a yard," he says.
"Offensively, we just couldn't put anything together. They couldn't score and we couldn't score," he continues.
The Saints turned over the football deep in their own end zone with seconds left in the game and it hurt them as the Panthers went on to score six points.
Senger reports that the Saints will go up against Melville in Yorkton either Thursday or Saturday in the first round of the playoffs.
At home, Senger points out this was Moosomin's first year in the nine man tackle football program. SHHS agreed to an exhibition game. The Saints played mainly their younger rookies in the game, he notes. In the playoffs, it's going to be play to win so most of the Saints' younger players won't see much time on the field. The exhibition game with the Moosomin General was their opportunity to get some playing time, Senger explains.
He admits the Generals were better than he thought they would be. "They hit hard. They work hard. They're going too have a good program down the road," he suggests.
Senger says he thought the Generals would attempt to punt the ball through the end zone because their punter has a very good leg. He instructed the Saints defenders to play straight up and try to block the kick. In that last play of the game, Senger claims he had five Grade 9s, three Grade 10s and one Grade 12 player on the field.
