The Sacred Heart High School (SHHS) Senior Saints football team took on the Maple Creek Redmen, who finished the season as the Number 1 seed from the South West Ath-letic Conference. The Saints advanced to the provincial semi-final game after defeating the Melville Cobras in East Central Football playoffs.
Despite the long trip, and having several starting players out of the line up, the Saints battled to a hard-fought 33-14 win. The win advanced SHHS to the provincial quarter finals.
The Saints will host the undefeated Delisle Rebels this Saturday, at 1 p.m. at Sacred Heart to mark the first time in team history the Saints have advanced this far into provincial playoffs.
In their last three games, the Saints managed to score on their first offensive possessions. They looked to do the same against Maple Creek, but a Saints fumble on the opening kickoff gave the Redmen a short field to work with. Maple Creek scored on their opening possession, putting the Saints down 6-0 two minutes into the game. "That wasn't the start we wanted, but guys were a little nervous, and it almost seemed like they were trying to do too much. We talked to the guys, tried to settle them down, and reminded them of the things that we had success with in the past", says coach Dwayne Todas. "We told them they jst needed to get back to basics and relax," he adds.
The team did just that when Saints running back Preston Liebrecht took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
"Being able to face some adversity and then respond was a big step for our team," says Saints coach Chad Holinaty. "Before the game, we talked about how we can't get too high when things are going well, and we can't get too low when we run into some adversity. We know there are going to be times we get knocked down, but it's how we respond, how we get back up that will be the difference," he continues.
After the Saints went ahead on a Liebrecht touchdown run, the Saints defense had to adjust to a Maple Creek offense that utilized three running backs and confusion to slow down opposing defenses. "They play a double wing offense that no one in our league had played," states Saints head coach Trent Senger. "We had an idea of what they ran, but until our guys saw it, it was tough to adjust to. We wanted our guys to be aggressive and hit anything in a brown uniform that came through the line. It's hard to know which of their guys have the ball, so our game plan was to hit them all and sort it out after the whistle," Senger elaborates.
In addition to their running game, the Redmen had success all season throwing a screen pass to try to take advantage of aggressive defensive pressure. Saints cornerbacks Travis Inglis and Brock Liebrecht, in particular, did a good job of reading the play and finishing their tackles.
The Saints defense was led by Nathan Ortynsky, who had 15 tackles, Dakota German with 14, and Travis Inglis with 11 tackles and one interception.
"It was great to see different guys step up and fill in," comments Saints coach Scott Musqua. "We saw several guys raise their game today, and being able to hold both Melville and Maple Creek to two scores says a lot about our depth and how guys are really buying into our system."
For the second week, the Saints offense was led by it's rushing game. Preston Liebrecht ran for 348 yards and three touchdowns. His kickoff return for a touchdown brought his total to four touchdowns on the day. Morgan Giroux, who supplied most of the key blocks to spring Liebrecht's runs, rushed for a touchdown of his own.
The Saints prepare to host last season's provincial finalist and North West Football League champion Delisle Rebels Saturday. "The Rebels have a strong football tradition, haven't lost this year, and are going to be a very tough, disciplined team," Senger predicts. "We need to correct some of the errors we had on Saturday, and get ourselves ready for what will be a physical contest. It's exciting for us to be playing in November, and to have home-field advantage is awesome for our program. We hope the stands are full for what should be a great game," he closes.
