For the first time this season, the first half of a Regina Intercollegiate Football League (RIFL) matchup in Yorkton played out more like a hockey game then a football game.
The numbers on the scoreboard at the half read 1-0.
The final score would have indicated a complete annihilation.
It was as close a game as they've played this season and for the first time, everything that had to go right for them, did go right, including the numbers on the scoreboard, as the YRHS Raiders seniors made off with an 8-0 victory in what was also the last home game for the club's graduating seniors.
A touchdown rush by Jake Prybylski, combined with a pass block by Christoph Zawatsky in his own end zone with time winding down, and backed by a defence that didn't let up, led to the Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) Raiders' senior football team's first win of the season, over the Notre Dame Hounds."It feels amazing," said a tired looking Zawatsky when the game was over. "It's awesome. I had a feeling we could beat them."
The decisive point in the game came on a Notre Dame second down on a long pass headed right for the end zone.
Zawatsky got in front of the Hounds' receiver and batted down the pass that otherwise would have seen the visitors tie the game with a two-point conversion. Zawatsky also managed to avoid a pass interference call.
"I just have to make sure I knock it down," recalled the 5' 6" wide receiver and tailback shortly after YRHS had sealed the deal. "I can't let anyone get behind me."
Zawatsky and the intended receiver both went up for the ball at the same time and he caused enough of a distraction to block the pass, and most importantly, avoid taking a pass interference call.
"The adrenaline's pumping," said Zawatsky of that play.
The game went neck-and-neck all afternoon. Yorkton, for the first time this season, and maybe for the first time in a long time, held a 1-0 lead going into the half.
Roby Sharpe, head coach of the YRHS Raiders, said that watching this one, especially seeing the play in the end zone that would have changed the entire atmosphere of the football game, was anything but easy. "It's nerve-wracking," he said after a few team photos were taken afterwards.
"That was a good football team we played (today)," he said of the Hounds.
The play in which Zawatsky may have saved the game, Sharpe said it's all about positioning on each and every play and that it's awesome when it works the way it did at Century Field that day.
"Don't ever let anyone get behind you," he said of Zawatsky's effort, adding that "the defence has been so solid" after a "little bit (more) 'tomfoolery'" on the part of the opposition.
On a play in which Yorkton's opponents pulled some tricks out of their sleeve and caught everyone by surprise; it wasn't the first time its happened either.
O'Neill did it last week and scored a touchdown off of a trick play that had everyone shaking their heads. This time Notre Dame got a first down following a trick play which fetched them 20+ yards to send the Hounds deep into the red zone.
"As soon as I saw him (ND quarterback Mackenzie Langford) wheel out, I knew it," explains Sharpe. "But our defence played so tough."
YRHS started playing well right off the start and the penalty calls started to go their way, too. On the game's opening play, when slotback Jake Prybylski ran for a 20-yard gain, a penalty was called against the Hounds and moved them up field.
They also recovered a Notre Dame fumble on their 46.
YRHS quarterback Mackenzie Shore's arm was well intact, finding Zawatsky open for a 40-yard gain, setting up a first down on the ND eight.
Yorkton opened the scoring on a missed field goal.
Prybylski rushed for a six-point score late in the third quarter to give them a lead they wouldn't let go of.On a third-and-inches late in the fourth, the Hounds were called for too many men on the field.
With the score 8-0 and less than a minute and a half left, Yorkton linebacker Paul Toth picked off a Langford pass to get the ball back for YRHS.
Notre Dame managed to get the ball back and went deep with it, but a pass batted down on third down was all she wrote tonight.
The other good news for the YRHS troupe is that they won't have to worry about getting their first win of the season away from home field this year.
Martin was the only other school in the league who hadn't yet recorded a win going into the weekend's game.
YRHS will get on the bus on Thursday for a match-up with Martin Collegiate set for Mosaic Stadium.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m., under the lights as the Raiders go for a second straight win.
"We're really excited," Zawatsky closed.
