Raiders Triumph In Wild And Wooly Matchup
Photos and Story by Robert Thomas
The best way to describe Saturday afternoon’s matchup between the visiting 0 - 2 U14 Estevan Oilers and 2 - 1 Moose Jaw Raiders is wild and wooly.
Playing with just a 25 player roster - with one player out with a broken femur but still wanting to hit the field - the Oilers pulled out all the stops in what turned out to be a tough emotional matchup.
Despite their valiant efforts the U14 Oilers fell 41 - 14 to the Raiders.
THE RAIDERS LUCAS LIND IS TACKLED BY THE OILERS HUGH ROSS - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The First Quarter saw the Raiders open the scoring 6 - 0 on a quick series into the end zone.
With momentum on the Raiders side the Oilers through up some major defensive plays to force Moose Jaw into a third and long situation.
The potential lay for the Oilers to gain possession and take away the Raiders early momentum only to have Raiders quarterback Traeten Potvin air up a long pass to Calum Seargeant who had a one step advantage Oilers defender Faber Nash.
Seargeant would bobble the ball close to a dozen times and then make the catch going on to beat Nash’s tackle attempt and head into the end zone.
At the time the Estevan bench said it was a great catch and it was like hearing circus juggling music as Seargeant was bobbling the ball heading down field.
MOOSE JAW RAIDERS RECEIVER CALUM SEARGENT (LEFT) BATTLES SWIFT CURRENT STEELERS DEFENDER FABER NASH - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The quarter ended with the Raiders leading 21 - 0.
The Second Quarter saw the Oilers fight back on both the offensive and defensive fronts.
Despite just having enough players - 25 - to make up a 12-aside team the Oilers came out hard challenging the Raiders often breaking through the home team’s offensive line.
The score at Halftime was Raiders 21 and the Oilers 8.
THE OILERS HUGH ROSS BREAKS LEFT AROUND THE RAIDERS DEFENSIVE LINE AND SPRINTS INTO THE END ZONE - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Third Quarter saw the Raiders regain their legs and momentum with the quarter ending 35 - 8 in favour of Moose Jaw.
The Final Score was Raiders 41 - 14.
Coaches Comments
For Raiders head coach Britt Johnstone the win felt good after last week’s disappointing nail biter loss to the Moose Jaw Vikings.
“It was a really good game. We came in super excited and Estevan was coming in hungry for that (first) win. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t get that win but fortunately for us, we came back after a tough loss last weekend,” Johnstone said in the post game interview.
“That loss last week really sucked and put a sour taste in our mouth. It really put a fire under our butts.”
Asked about the emotional nature of the game she said “after our loss last weekend our kids came in really hungry for a win.”
Regarding the importance of the big catch to score the Raiders second touchdown Johnstone said it was a big one.
“Yeah Calum Seargent he has gone a long way this year. He’s definitely one of our better players…that momentum was everything. Him catching that ball was amazing.”
The defence came up big for the Raiders with two turnovers ending up in the end zone.
“We actually had two defensive touchdowns this game. We had one a punt return by number 54 Lucas Lind and then we had another pick six from number 26 Daymond Baxter that were both run back for touchdowns,” Johnstone said.
THE OILERS GANG TACKLE A RAIDERS BACK AFTER THE TEAM TRIED TO RUN A REVERSE - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
About Estevan dropping the ball in close as they were within scoring distance only to have the Raiders return the favour on the following play she said “yeah it happens. You can’t be perfect.”
Asked if the scoreboard was indicative of how well the Estevan Oilers played in the game she said it didn’t.
“No the scoreboard doesn’t always show how well a team plays. Sometimes you just have a bad play. Sometimes the ball just bounces the wrong way,” Johnstone said.
“Estevan is a very strong team considering they only have 25 kids.”
“They are a very tough team. And they’re a very good team for the amount of kids they have,” Johnstone said.
RAIDERS BENNETT KARST (RIGHT) GRABS AHOLD OF AN OILERS PLAYER SWEATER IN ORDER TO HOLD UP THE ESTEVAN RUSH - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
About the Raiders player who was injured during the game Johnstone said he should be alright but was taken to the hospital to be checked out as a precautionary measure.
The game had two doctors in attendance at the game who immediately went out to grant assistance ultimately making the call to have an ambulance summoned.
“We are hoping to have him back for Tuesday’s practice so I’m hoping to get an update later from his family.”
For Estevan head coach Paul Duncan the number one thing was also the Raiders injured player was quickly on the mend and not seriously hurt.
“It was class acts tonight all around I really hope that the Raider player makes it out OK. A scary sight for that but our best wishes out to them. Good luck going forward for the rest of the season.”
AN ESTEVAN OILERS COACH TALKS TO HIS PLAYERS ON THE BENCH DURING THE GAME - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
For Duncan the Oilers didn’t come fast out of the gate and the Raiders capitalized on it.
“I think we had a lot of butt flags for us. It was also a rough week for us. It was our second game in three days. We played Wednesday night and came out here tonight. We started a little bit slower and the Raiders were able to capitalize on that,” he said.
Good coaching was evident in the Raiders play he said.
“It’s a really good coached team the Raiders are so they did their job and we fought hard to stay in the game,” he said.
Despite the final score Duncan agreed it was a game that could have went either way.
“A couple of lucky bounces either way for either team really makes a difference in it. We just have to continue with our focus and try as hard as we can.”
MOOSE JAW RAIDERS QUARTERBACK TRAETEN POTVIN IS CHASED DOWN BY A QUARTET OF ESTEVAN OILERS DEFENDERS - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The Oilers quarterback threw some very nice passes in the game although he was punished by interceptions.
Despite throwing a couple of key interceptions to the Raiders during the game Duncan said it’s something the team needs to work on.
“On those ones the thing is just checking where the coverage is with the two safetys over the top to make sure we are getting the ball to the outside than over the middle,” he said.
The receivers also needed to “help out the quarterback by fighting for that ball.”
“They (the receiving core) have got to be dogs out there.”
Duncan commended Calum Seargeant for his first quarter bobbling catch that turned into the Raiders second touchdown,
“That was absolute crazy out there. The ball kind of changed position about 12 times and it was a great focus by number 8 (Calum Seargeant) to hold onto that. It was a great catching that as well.”
MOOSE JAW RAIDERS RECEIVER CALUM SEARGENT MAKES A CATCH ON A LONG PASS OVER COVERAGE BY QUARTERBACK TRAETON POTVIN. SEARGEANT WAS ABLE TO BEAT TWO ESTEVAN DEFENDERS AND MAKE IT INTO THE END ZINE BIT THE PLAY WAS CALLED BACK ON A PEALTY - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
Asked if the Seargeant catch was the turning point in the game Duncan said “it helped seal that momentum the Raiders had coming into it.”
Despite the score then moving to 12 - 0, as the Raiders missed both concerts, he said it was “one of those things you need to flush out and just get out there and keep pushing.”
About the emotional nature of the game Duncan said “football is an emotional game. It’s nice to see the fire and desire in the kids. And just help fostering that as much as possible to help them grow.”
Oilers Season
Despite being winless in all three of their outings Duncan says the team is not about to give up.
This year the 25 player roster U14 Oilers lost a player for the season due to a broken femur at practice.
“Yeah we have had to overcome some adversity with regards to a player injuries and just being low in numbers. We have 25 on the roster. It’s been an uphill battle making sure everybody is going as well as they can,” Duncan said.
WAITING TO HIT THE FIELD ON THE RAIDERS BENCH - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
Despite the low numbers and challenges brought with it Duncan is proud of the team.
“I wouldn’t want to have anybody else other than the team that I have. Those kids play really hard and they do a great job.“
Asked about having a short and if makes it more difficult for the Oilers he said there are workarounds learnt over time to make things work.
“It adds a lot of complexities to it. But I’m use to it over my time with Estevan Minor Football. At the end of the day there are 12 kids on the field for either side and that is what really matters only,” Duncan said.
With the season now hitting the halfway point Duncan said there was lots of stuff the Oilers would like to build on.
He pointed out the team had been scoring points at times as well as the defence stepping up at times with strong play.
“We just have to make sure we step up with a full 48 minutes of football,” Duncan said.
RAIDERS QUARTERBACK TRAETEN POTVIN LOOKS TO THROW AFTER ALLUDING ONE DEFENDER AS THE OILERS ARVIN SANGER CONTINUED THE PURSUIT - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
The win gives the Moose Jaw Raiders a 3 - 1 record.
The loss gives the Estevan Oilers a 0 - 3 record.
The next game for the Moose Jaw Raiders is September 30th at 7 pm when they head to Weyburn to take on the Ravens.
The next game for the Estevan Oilers is October 1 at 1 pm in Swift Current versus the Steelers.
