Vikings Headed To U14 League Championship - Photo Feature Game
Photos and Text by Robert Thomas
It’s not known what the U14 Estevan Oilers ate for supper on Saturday but given their play on the field their defence must have had an extra serving of spinach.
Although the Oilers would eventually lose their semi-final playoff matchup to the U14 Moose Jaw Vikings by a score 37 - 12 it wasn’t because of a lack of a defensive effort.
MOOSE JAW VIKINGS JAMES LANOIE (LEFT) RUNS BY AN ESTEVAN OILERS DEFENDER - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Oilers defence would stop the Vikings within yards of the end zone only to turnover the ball to the Vikings in the ensuing series. The Oilers defense would respond by holding the Vikings out of the end zone having the ball turn over on downs.
It’s something the Popeye strong Oilers defense would do three times under the lights.
MOOSE JAW VIKINGS VAN GLASSER TRIES EVADE THE VERY TOUGH ESTEVAN OILERS DEFENCE - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
On their defensive side of the equation the Moose Jaw Vikings Maddox Montgomery seemed to be everywhere either assisting on the tackle or making an unassisted tackle.
When the ball squirted loose at the sidelines Montgomery jumped in and managed to recover a fumble somehow instantaneously getting from the top to the bottom of the pile up.
THE MOOSE JAW VIKINGS CELEBRATE A TOUCHDOWN - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
After finally getting on the scoreboard late in the First Quarter - because of the very tough Estevan Oilers defence - the Vikings had a team celebration in the end zone.
The Vikings would then go for the two point conversion which was scored by Dylan Ward who managed to sprint past the Oilers defenders scoring just inside the out of bounds marker.
MOOSE JAW VIKINGS DYLAN WARD (LEFT) JUST RUNS INTO THE END ZONE TO SCORE ON A TWO POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. WARD’S SIZE AND SPEED WERE KEY IN THE VIKINGS VICTORY - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Second Quarter saw the Vikings score two more two point conversions touchdowns.
MOOSE JAW VIKINGS DEFENDER MADDOX MONTGOMERY (RIGHT) GOES AFTER AN ESTEVAN OILERS BALL CARRIER. MONTGOMERY WAS INVOLVED IN NUMEROUS TACKLES DURING THE GAME AND MANAGED TO COME UP WITH A LOOSE BALL IN A PILE UP - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Oilers would get on the scoreboard but failed on the conversion attempt making the score 24 - 6.
THE CATCH - MOOSE JAW VIKINGS KELTYN CHAPPEL (LEFT) MAKES A CATCH IN THE FINAL SECONDS OF THE FIRST HALF
In the dying seconds of the First Half the Vikings Keltyn Chappel make a catch and then run what looked like to be a 50 plus yard pass and run touchdown.
But just after time ran out an Oilers defender would lunge and manage to trip up Chapel on the one yard line just short of a touchdown.
THE TACKLE - DESPITE LOOKING LIKE HE WAS HEADED FOR THE END ZONE KELTYN CHAPPEL IS UP ENDED IN A DIVING TACKLE WITH THE BALL AT THE ONE YARD LINE AS TIME EXPIRED FOR THE HALF - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
A couple of key plays for the Moose Vikings was they were able to go two for two in recovering onside kicks.
MOOSE JAW VIKINGS RYAN DONEY (RIGHT) PUSHES AN ESTEVAN OILERS BALL CARRIER OUT OF BOUNDS - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Third Quarter saw the Vikings extend their lead to 30 - 6.
MOOSE JAW VIKINGS DYLAN WARD (CENTER) DRAGS ALONG AN ESTEVAN OILERS DEFENDER AFTER MAKING A CATCH - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Fourth Quarter saw the Vikings add another converted touchdown and a 37 - 6 lead.
However the Oilers had not given up.
DESPITE REACHING FOR IT A PASS SOARS PAST - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
On the final play of the game the Oilers managed to score a touchdown making the final score 37 - 12.
MOOSE JAW VIKINGS DYLAN WARD (LEFT) HAS NOWHERE TO GO AGA AN ESTEVAN OILERS DEFENDER - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Vikings victory launches the top team in the U14 division - with a 5 wins and 1 loss - into the finals.
The Vikings will face the Weyburn Young Fellows Falcons who had earlier in the day defeated the Moose Jaw Raiders in Weyburn.
The game will be held on Friday evening - exact time hadn’t been decided at publication time - as Vikings head coach Collin Belsher will be in Weyburn Saturday afternoon in the high school 12-aside South Rural Conference final as the Central Cyclones defeated the Yorkton Raiders earlier on Saturday.
LISTED AS WEIGHING 83.5 POUNDS ON THE MOOSE JAW VIKINGS SMALLER PLAYERS LIAM OAKES RUNS WITH THE BALL - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Estevan Oilers will be in Moose Jaw next Saturday to face the Raiders in the U14 third place championship.
The format as of publication time was the U12 third place final between the Moose Jaw Bulldogs and the Swift Current Steelers.
Then the Oilers and Raiders would face off in the U14 third place game.
SOMEWHERE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SIDELINES PILEUP MADDOX MONTGOMERY MANAGES TO GRAB A FUMBLE - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The final game of the season at Elks Athletic Field would be the U12 championship game between the Moose Jaw Lions and the Moose Jaw Spartans.
Exact kickoff times are still to be announced.
EDITOR’S NOTE - I would like to apologize for the lack of a post game interview, the poorer photo quality and the lateness of filing this report.
On journalism there is no excuses but my excuse it was one of those days where heart disease cut in and I was tired all three games. After a three hour nap I started the stories.
Once again my apologies - Robert.