It was a history making victory for the Yorkton Junior Raiders Saturday.
The Junior team headed to Regina to face the Stampeders in the final of their division of the Regina Minor Football League having played in the league for 22 seasons and no championships on their record.
In fact, a Yorkton team had never won a championship in any division of the RMF.
“We wanted to be the first team that broke the Regina Minor Football curse,” said Junior Raider head coach Al Kyle.
So when the Raiders were up 20-0 at the half, hopes were high.
When the lead grew to 36, while holding the Stampeders off the scoresheet, the elusive championship was the Raiders to savor.
“The boys were focused all year long,” said Kyle.
That focus meant near total domination by the Junior Raiders who scored 453 points over 10-games, while allowing only 27.
While the 36-0 win looks lopsided, Kyle said it was not easy, noting the Stampeders finished second in the regular season with a 4-2-2 record.
“It was a good game in the first half,” he said, then the Raiders pulled away in the second half.
Quarterback Jake Farrell was a key, In spite of cold and windy conditions he was still able to throw the ball, a big part of the Yorkton game, said Kyle.
“There’s always a bit of concern (when weather is bad),” he said. “But in warm-up when we saw him (Farrell) slinging the ball around we knew it would be OK.”
And on defence it was the same philosophy as every other game.
“We hit hard every play and came down hill,” he said.
Kyle said the championship was really one for the entire program in the city.
“We really are a product of Yorkton Minor Football,” he said, adding players come to the Junior team with a good basis in the sport from lower levels in the program, “and we build on that a little bit.”
The win might have been more special for coaches than players, the coaches having been with the team far longer in search of a championship.
In past seasons “we got some pretty good beatings handed to us,” said Kyle, adding over 22 years there were seasons without wins, or where one win was deemed a success.
As an example assistant coach Cam Barton was on the first edition of the Junior Raiders 22-years ago, the first game in Regina was a 72-0 loss.
“It’s awesome for Yorkton Minor Football as an organization ... to now share in our win,” said Kyle.
