On paper, Friday evening’s game between the Moose Jaw Raiders and Moose Jaw Vikings should have been one of the quintessential classic matchups of the 2024 playoffs.
The Raiders entered the semifinal game with a regular season record of 5 - 1 (second place) and the third-place Vikings sported a regular season record of 3 - 3.
The Vikings were the underdogs but also known for fighting back.
And despite some strong play from the Vikings they found themselves often outgunned and outmatched losing 32 - 0 in U14 playoff division action in the Kinsmen Moose Jaw Minor Football League.
“It felt really good,” Raiders head coach Zac Klyne said when asked how he felt about the win.
Practicing hard was key to the Raiders strong performance on Friday evening.
“We knew we could do it. We practiced hard all week and there was one day, Tuesday, when we didn’t look very good but we came back to work Wednesday and Thursday. We ran hard. It just felt good they all showed what they can do,” Klyne said.
The 32 - 0 win was unexpected.
“I expected it to be a little bit closer. Knew if we came here we played our game that it would probably end up like this because we have a lot of playmakers on the offence and on the defensive side,” he said.
“We can do this to a lot of teams, but today we showed them what we can do in the playoffs.”
Klyne said he was happy with the Raiders play.
“I’m very happy. A lot of our player stepped up and we got help from our other players too,” he said.
A major focus for the Raiders was working on their running game.
“We worked all week on the running back (position). Ryder Seiferling number 21 I’ll give a shout out. We worked hard on getting the ball moved quickly and him run hard so he showed up today. He probably had over 150 yards on the ground running.”
Klyne pointed out it was not easy as when you get to the Vikings line “there are two guys ready to tackle him but he just runs through them.”
About next week’s final Klyne said he is just looking forward to it it as another game.
“ We have a lot of grade eights on the team so it’s their last minor football game so I’m looking forward to a good game for them. Hopefully, hopefully we can put it all together.”
Another area where the Raiders excelled in was in special teams.
“We come to practice and we practice all three phases of football defence and special teams. We sometimes forget about special teams, but we showed him today that we got touchdown on the kickoff return we got a fumble recovery on a kick off so all three phases were rolling today.”
The disappointing loss for the Vikings.
“We showed up. We wanted to play some football but it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to do. We know that can happen. We are going to regroup and come back next week and finish the season off strong,” Vikings head coach Allan Hender said.
The Vikings managed to keep the Raiders score list for almost the entire first quarter until the last play.
On the last player of the first quarter the Raiders managed to put up a pass and a long run that scored a touchdown as the quarter ended.
The Vikings would only allow the Raiders to score six more points in the second quarter but in the third quarter the Vikings wheels partially fell off.
“We had opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on them and that’s the result right there,” Hender said.
Although it was too late to affect the outcome of the game, the Vikings did play a strong fourth-quarter, where there was turnover after turnover and downs as their defence kicked in and made some key stops on the Raiders.
“In the beginning, we had some opportunities we didn’t capitalize on them and And in the middle game, it was tough. They came all over us. We just tried to redeem ourselves, but it just didn’t work out,” he said.
“We took some risk to try and make things happen and here we are.”
The three and three regular season finish for the Vikings with something be proud of Hender said.
“We did some really good things, but then again we came up short. And at times we felt like we were going to come out on the top end and it’s just about the work ethic,” he said.
Despite losing in the semifinal he is hopeful the players will learn something from the experience. It’s a valuable life lesson, he said.
“I just hope these kids learn that they have got to pick themselves up. And move forward no matter what’s throwing at them. This is football it’s a sport. There are other sports out there too if they replicate this, it also works in the game of life.”
Despite how well the Vikings have done this year hinder did not want to take anything away from the Vikings.
“The Vikings played a great game. They are exactly what they have been all season. They come out and they erupt with everybody, everybody has planned for them. We wish them well in this upcoming weekend.”
The Raiders move onto the league final against the winner of the game between the Estevan Oilers and Weyburn Ravens.
The losing team between the Oilers and the Ravens will face off against the Vikings in a consolation bowl game.
MooseJawToday.com thanks MJIndependent.com for permission to use this article.
