Saturday was a forgettable day for Estevan Minor Football, including the bantam Steelers’ 67-0 defeat at the hands of the Regina Raiders in their 2011 season opener.

All three EMF squads suffered blow-out losses in their season debuts on the road.

Steelers head coach Preston Majeran blamed a sluggish first-half for falling into a deep hole against what he described as the bantam league’s top team in the Raiders.

“They came out guns a-blazing right off the start and we came out a little flat,” Majeran said.

The bright spot was the club’s improvement after the break.

“Defensively we improved 100 per cent from the first half to the second half. They just had a (defensive) line we could not crack to get the ball moving,” he said.

“Our defence started stopping the run, stopping the deep threats and started clicking in that second half.”

A big part of the Steelers’ inability to get on the scoresheet was a mismatch at the line of scrimmage when their offence went to work, something Majeran said will be worked on this week.

With only eight returnees and just as many who are new to the gridiron, Majeran said most of the focus right now is on helping players make the adjustment from peewee ball to bantam.

“It’s a learning curve with so many rookies on the team, guys coming up from the Chargers and guys who have never played football before,” he said.

“We now have our notes and we’re going to work on what needs to be worked on to correct it for next game.

“Especially with (this) week being Football Day in Estevan, we’d like to come out with a win,” he said.

All three minor football squads are playing their home opener on Saturday at Estevan Comprehensive School, coinciding with Rider Pride Week. The Steelers wrap up the day’s action at 2:30 p.m. against the Regina Lakers.