The Central Cyclones are headed back to the South 5A 12-Aside Football League championship final, and they have one of the best defensive performances in recent history to thank for it.
The Cyclones held the powerhouse Yorkton Raiders to only 14 points on 233 yards of offence and used a fourth-quarter surge to put the game away as they took a 28-14 victory in the semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Gutheridge Field.
It was a bit of a departure from the expected for two teams that can put up all sorts of points in a hurry, but still as positive as could be for the local squad.
“Our defence has played great all year and coach Mac (Ansell) had them dialed right in today,” said Central head coach Colin Belsher. “Yorkton is a good team, we beat them twice this year which is an anomaly for us. They’re a really well-coached team, strong and hard-nosed, and I thought we stood up to them a little bit today.”
Both defences were rock solid in the first two quarters. Keaton Belsher scored the lone major for Central and Liam Bewcyk had a touchdown for Yorkton as the Raiders took an 8-6 lead into the half.
Yorkton strung together a decent drive midway through the third quarter and looked to increase their lead with the ball inside the Central 10, only for Cyclones defensive lineman Chris Nelson to perfectly read a short Yorkton passing play and pull off a huge interception.
That play was a massive turning point in the game, as the Cyclones took things over from there and started to put up points once the final quarter hit.
“That interception probably turned the game, and that was probably the biggest play of his life,” coach Belsher said with a grin. “The kids bought into playing a team game and knowing that one guy can get a big stop. They trusted each other and held the rope for each other and that’s kind of what our team was this week.”
Javin Boynton (19-yard run), Brodie Ansell (six-yard run) and Keaton Belsher (10-yard pass) all had majors over the final 12 minutes of the game.
Dexter Candillo had Yorkton’s other touchdown as time ran down.
All told, the result was a bit of revenge for the local squad -- and especially for the defence -- after giving up 60 points in their semifinal loss to the Raiders last season.
“It was definitely a change from last year, our defence has gotten bigger, faster and stronger and I’m proud of our defence, everyone played great in the second half,” said Cyclones linebacker and defensive captain Paul Barth. “It’s great to be able to come out and play like this and get the win, I’m just proud of the whole team.”
Seeing his crew ensure there would be no repeat of last year’s struggles was heartening for coach Belsher.
“That was a hard pill to swallow all year for these kids, putting up enough points to win the game and still getting doubled up,” he said. “You have to lean on your Grade 12s in a game like this, they all went through that last year and they really stepped up today. They knew it was potentially their last game, so they played their hearts out and now we’re playing next week.”
The league final will see the Cyclones taking on the unbeaten Weyburn Eagles next Saturday in Weyburn after the Eagles took a 45-21 victory over the Peacock Tornadoes in their semifinal.
The two teams met mid-season, with Weyburn taking a 22-0 victory.
“It was a tight game in Weyburn the last time we played and they started to pull away in the end,” Belsher said. “They beat us and deserved to beat us, so we’ll have to play with a lot more heart and determination and we’ll see where the cards fall.”
