Tornadoes Down Vikings Under The Lights

By Robert Thomas

Led by Josh Johnson’s three touchdowns the Peacock Tornadoes downed the Vanier Vikings 30 - 8 under the lights on Thursday evening.

The game saw a strong Viking defensive squad manage to keep the Tornadoes to a single touchdown lead throughout the first half and late into the third quarter. But it was in the fourth quarter that the Peacock squad put the game away.

Johnson would carry the ball 13 times for a total 117 yards in rushing while Tornadoes teammate Owen Varjassy carried the ball 18 times for 123 yards in rushing.

Despite the loss the Vikings were able to put their first points on the board in three games in the South 5A 12-Man Football League 2022 season.

Peacock Tornadoes Owen Varjassy (left) runs past Vanier Vikings Joel Marak. Varjassy carried the ball 18 times for 123 yards in rushing - MJ Independent photo

The Tornadoes would carry the ball 32 times for 229 yards in rushing. Tornadoes quarterback Keaton Doerksen made six out of 13 passing attempts with a net gain of 88 yards.

The Vikings offense responded with 46 yards on rushing on 29 carries. In the passing department the Vikings managed to gain 14 yards with two completions in eight attempts.

Scoring on the night would see the Peacock’s Johnson with three touchdowns. Followed by Owen Varjassy with a touchdown. Razak Borufu Mugarwa was successful on all four convert attempts.

Peacock’s defense would score two points when Vanier elected to concede the deuce by taking a knee instead of attempting to run the ball out of the end zone.

The Vikings managed a lone fourth quarter touchdown when Vanier quarterback Tayden Hardwicke drew his own number and ran the ball into the end zone. A two point conversion was successful with Hudson Tallon notching up the two points.

Peacock Tornadoes quarterback Keaton Doerksen made six successful passes in 13 attempts for a total of 88 yards - MJ Independent photo

Defensively the Vikings shone. The Vikings’ D gave up a lone touchdown in the first half.

The Tornadoes would make a second quarter field goal attempt only to have it blocked by the Vikings. The same would happen to a Tornadoes punt attempt - a successful block and recovery by the Vikings.

Defensively the Tornadoes managed to stop the Vikings running game.

Vikings standout, Joe Marak (who had 41 yards rushing on 11 carries on Saturday versus the Swift Current Colts), carried the ball only three times for a negative three yards as the Tornadoes defense pressed quickly into Vanier’s backfield.

Vikings receiver Grayson Hrenyk (left) blocks Tornadoes Dax Gibney - MJ Independent photo

Coaches’ Post Game Comments

Peacock Tornadoes’ head coach Bert Redstone was very happy with his team’s effort despite the Vikings strong defensive play especially in the first half.

“I’m happy. We expected Vanier to come out and play and they sure did. Credit to Ryan Gottselig (Vanier Vikings head coach) for getting those guys ready. They have a tough D line and pretty good linebackers. Just an overall good defense,” Redstone told MJ Independent in his post game comments.

Asked about the Vikings coming out strong in the first half defensively he said it was not what the Tornadoes had been expecting.

“We expected a 40 and they threw a 50 at us and it took us a little while to adjust and then you know you have got to make your Xs and Os line up and once we did that the kids sort of got their heads around it and played harder.”

Tornadoes touchdown denied at the goal line - MJ Independent photo

Asked about the Vikings managing to block a field goal and a punt Redstone said the Vikings caught his team by beating them to the jump.

“Our guys were on their heels there. And you can’t play football on your heels. You can’t be sitting back. You have got to make a decision and do that thing as fast as you can.”

Regarding his teams good effort he pointed to the offensive line being slow off of the start but as the game progressed they gelled.

“The O (offensive) line coming together. You know we got some injuries the last couple of days but there is no excuse guys have just got to step in and do the job. I think once they got the game speed, especially with a team like Vanier they are going to come at you full speed. So once they got that figured out the guys kind of got the confidence under their belts and were able to do what they can do,” he said.

Vikings receiver Gabe Yasinsibski (left) has a pass knocked away by Tornadoes Dax Gibney as Malcolm Hunter reaches for the deflected throw and an interception - MJ Independent photo

Asked about the first three quarters and how it seemed Vanier’s defense contained the Peacock’s offense Redstone said it was a case of not getting the jump.

“You can’t lay on your heels in football. You have to be going full speed.”

He said box scores mean nothing in football because being scoreless through two games actually inspired the Vikings and the Tornadoes faced that.

“That wears on a team. They are thinking ‘we have got to get better. We need to show up’ and of course they did. A credit to Ryan Gottselig for getting those guys to play,” he said, adding “we have been telling our kids the opposite. ‘You guys have got to expect them to come out and play. You can’t be looking at box scores and coming in and think you are going to roll through these guys’. I think part of that coming in was making our guys feel comfortable to play.”

Vanier's Tucker McKechnie (left) misses the toe tackle on Peacock's Owen Varjassy - MJ Independent photo

The Tornadoes now enter a bye week in the South 5A 12-Man Football League but that does not mean they are not going to be taking things easy.

“We are going to take the next couple of weeks to refine some stuff and get ready for our next opponent. There is no big rush we have got a nine and ten jamboree with our guys and just enjoy the time to get some practice in,” Redstone said.

The Peacock squad this year is a younger squad with just seven senior (grade 12) players it is something he said makes a difference and just part of the sport of high school football.

“We don’t have many (seniors on the team). I think we are down to seven right now so it is a smaller seniors’ group, but a great character group. You know great leadership from them and yes it is tough…it’s a game where sometimes you are putting 14 year olds out against 18 year olds and of course those 18 year olds are going to have an advantage. Those top heavy teams who have big grade 12 classes they do really well.”

With the win the Peacock Tornadoes go to a 2 - 1 record.

Vanier Vikings’ head coach Ryan Gottselig said despite the loss his team played better and they managed to get the monkey away from their necks by putting their first points of the season on the scoreboard.

“The whole game our defense played great. They had a huge O (offensive) line, two big and strong running backs and a QB who can throw the ball and we hung with them for three full quarters. It was a great effort by our defense,” Gottselig said.

Asked about the extra effort the defense put in when it came to facing Peacock’s kicking game he said it was a great effort.

“The kids put in a great effort. They blocked a field goal. They blocked a punt. They made great plays in the passing game knocking balls down. Such a great effort by our kids. They are a very good team…we (as coaches) are very happy with them,” he said.

Vikings Janzen Lamey (number 11 in white jersey) is tackled by Tornadoes Kayde Kell - MJ Independent photo

About finally putting their first points of the season on the scoreboard - after failing to score any points in their first two games - he said it was a relief to get rid of the goose egg.

“It was definitely a monkey on our back trying to get into the end zone. Hopefully that kind of breaks the ceiling and we start scoring now,” he said.

Asked about the two point conversion play he said he was happy and it was one of those plays that the Vikings clicked on.

“We have made some plays and we haven’t made some plays the last couple of weeks and we are going to put our all into it. We are getting better every week and that is what we have been working towards.”

Peacock Tornadoes Kingston Potosme-Usher (left) attempts to chase down Vanier's Hudson Tallon. Tallon carried the ball ten times for 58 yards - MJ Independent photo

Vanier’s next game is September 23rd against a strong and so far undefeated Central Cyclone team and Gottselig said they are looking forward to it.

“Yeah it will be fun. It is always great to play the Moose Jaw teams. You know they are well coached and we will line up and do our best to try and get better every week.”

Asked about whether he thought the Tornadoes saw the Vikings as the underdogs in Thursday evening’s game or were the Peacock squad coming hard in the game.

“No I think our kids played hard and they competed and played really well. We can battle the teams we played real well.”

Age makes a difference but the Vikings do their best to get better every day, he said.

“We are (a) very young (team). We have only three grade twelves on our team. We are very young. Again it is going to take some time for our kids to peak but we are getting better as I said each day and each week and we will just keep improving,” Gottselig said.

With the loss the Vanier Vikings move to an 0 - 3 record.

Tornadoes Owen Varjassy (in orange jersey) is tackled - MJ Independent photo

The next game for local teams in the South 5A 12-Man Football League is this Saturday afternoon at 1 pm at Gutheridge Field when the 2 - 0 Central Cyclones face last season’s powerhouse squad the Weyburn Eagles.

Central Cyclones vs Weyburn Eagles Saturday September 17th 1 pm start at Gutheridge Field - 650 Coteau Street West