One of the newest rivalries in Saskatchewan high school sports is the brewing feud between Moose Jaw's AE Peacock and the Yorkton Regional High School. Since the Raiders left the Regina league for a much more fair shake in the Moose Jaw High School Football League, the Raiders have been one of the top teams in the league alongside annual favorites in the Peacock Tornadoes. Last year the Raiders finished first in the MJHSFL, beating Peacock in the regular season. However Peacock got the last laugh, defeating a banged up Raiders squad in the final in convincing fashion at Gutheridge Field in a game that was the final Raiders appearance for league MVP and current Regina Ram Dalton Fichtner and Okanagan Sun linebacker Layne Hull, two of the best players to play for the Raiders in recent memory.
This year with the Raiders bringing back the core of last year's league runner ups the story has been reversed, but the rivalry has intensified.
This year the Tornadoes hold regular season bragging rights as well as an undefeated season, holding first place in the league after a win on the final game of the regular season over the Raiders in which Yorkton turned the ball over to Peacock six times on fumbles and interceptions and an additional two times on turnover on downs. With both teams cruising to the MJHSFL Championship that rivalry is going to reach newfound heights in a fourth chapter of a game that is becoming every bit as huge as the yearly battle between Moose Jaw Central and Peacock.
After a big win over the Weyburn Eagles at Century Field on Saturday, Roby Sharpe had nothing but praise for his team.
"This is one of the best teams I have ever coached, I said that last season and I will say that again, we have some very special football players on this team, including one of the best high school offensive lines I have seen," says Sharpe.
Quickly the attention shifted to the match up between the Raiders and Peacock in the final. A game that the Raiders are confident will play out with less turnovers than the eight they gave up earlier this month. "You aren't going to win a football game with eight turnovers and it was 28-21 late in the game despite our errors so the main focus outside of a gameplan is minimizing crucial mistakes," says Sharpe.
That theme was backed up by their starting quarterback David Balysky, who threw four interceptions that day.
"We made a few too many mistakes in the last game and I know that we have all thought about what we can do better and have what it takes to get it done," says Balysky.
Balysky threw just one interception against Weyburn, a 50-50 ball for Alex Popoff that came on a go route near the end of the first half. Catching Weyburn off guard, the cruel mistress that is the Saskatchewan wind came into play to halt Balysky's deep ball just enough to turn a Popoff touchdown into a Eagles interception. Up comfortably, Sharpe says that the Raiders went with the decision thanks to their confidence in Balysky's arm and Popoff's catching ability.
"We could have ran the ball, but it was pretty clear that Balysky had Popoff wide open and the wind took something off of the ball," says Sharpe.
The Raiders did return to their bread and butter for much of the game against Weyburn, going into a run heavy package that is a staple of Saskatchewan high school football. With the wind playing such a factor in playoff games, especially come November when the championships are on the line, Sharpe has been around long enough to know that you can't rely on a pass heavy attack unless you have a deal with mother nature.
"The way the weather gets in this province and across the country you need to have a very good rushing attack to get to the dance," says Sharpe. Sharpe also mentioned that elite wide receivers are a rarity at any level of high school football, even if the Raiders boast one of the best in Saskatchewan in Alex Popoff. "Most high school football players don't have the ability to run perfect routes and make the catch every chance they get and when it gets cold you see even more drops so while we do have a aerial attack that we are obviously going to use to keep a balanced offense, you aren't likely going to see an American or even CFL style of football when it gets down to November just based on how nasty conditions can get."
Luckily for both teams they have running backs that can hurt you for entirely different reasons. Moose Jaw has the bruising power running of Nathan Fall, who is the consensus offensive MVP when the awards are handed out on Saturday. Yorkton has the elusive speed and underrated power of Zak Kais, who has came back from an injury plagued 2012 playoffs after leading the league in rushing to equal success again in 2013.
"Kais can do everything you want in a running back, he isn't big and could be considered a speed back, but he will attack you and attack the open holes our offensive line gives him with full intensity on every play, says Sharpe.
That offensive line is anchored by the Kozushka brothers a tandem that has been drawing the eye of several colleges as of late and will be counted on to open holes for Kais as well as give Balysky time to work under the pocket.
On defense the Raiders rely on the hard work of Grey McKen and Tyson Haas at linebacker. McKen is a favorite for the league's Defensive MVP and played alongside Peter Kozushka on the Team Sask U-18 team at the Football Canada Cup last season and splits a workload on the offensive line while Haas is a throwback tough guy praised by Sharpe as "the toughest player I have ever coached" who gives the Raiders defense an edge.
Both players will be tasked with the challenge of stopping talented quarterback Sawyer Buettner and the running of Fall, something they did an admirable job of during the regular season despite having to work inside of their own territory thanks to untimely turnovers.
Saturday will be an opportunity to host the 3A Provincial final next week, a moment that head coach Roby Sharpe has been working for and something the city hasn't seen for two decades.
For Peacock it is a shot at an undefeated season, on Saturday only one school gets their storybook ending.
