The first week of the South 5A 12-Man Football League season is in the books, and now it’s time for action to return to Gutheridge Field for the 2022 campaign.
The seven-team league will see the first games of the season at the local high school football field this Saturday afternoon, and the schedule isn’t messing around when it comes to marquee match-ups right off the hop.
The Central Cyclones and Peacock Tornadoes will renew their cross-town rivalry at 1 p.m. at Gutheridge, with both teams coming into the contest with 1-0 records after victories on the first weekend of action.
The Cyclones (4-2 in 2021) rolled to a 50-9 win over the Colts (2-3) in Swift Current in their opener last Saturday, while the Tornadoes (2-3) also had a solid showing, taking a 56-8 win over the Elecs (0-4-1) in Estevan.
The news wasn’t quite as good for the Vanier Vikings (0-4-1) as they travelled to Yorkton and dropped a 63-0 decision to the powerhouse Raiders (4-1).
The Weyburn Eagles -- who are coming off an unbeaten season that included their first 5A 12-Man provincial championship -- had the bye week.
Vanier hosts Swift Current in the late game on Saturday, with kick-off at 3:15 p.m. at Gutheridge.
It’s back to business as usual for the league this season, after the pandemic played into things during the 2021 campaign and saw a handful of changes.
Teams will play a full six-game season this year, with the regular season wrapping up on Saturday, Oct. 15. The semifinals and consolation side playoffs will take place on Saturday, Oct. 22, with the league championship, bronze medal game and consolation final all running on Saturday, Oct. 29.
It'll be far more normal compared to 2021, where Weyburn and Yorkton played directly for the league title after finishing one-two in the league standings, Central and Swift Current played for third place and Vanier, Estevan and Peacock played in a fun jamboree-style contest to close out their campaign.
The South 5A 12-Man champions will advance to face the Regina 5A champions in the provincial semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 6; the winner of that contest will move on to play the Saskatoon 5A winners for the provincial championship.
After defeating Yorkton 21-7 in the league final in 2021, Weyburn took a 24-13 win over Saskatoon Bishop Mahoney in the provincial semifinal before rolling to a 44-0 win over previously unbeaten Balgonie Greenall in the SHSAA title game.
You can click this link for a rundown of the full league schedule.
