Both of the Yorkton Regional High School's football teams got a little ahead of their class schedule on the weekend and both got their football schedules off to a running start last weekend, one weekend before the official start of classes.
There were a lot of people at Kinsmen Century Field this past Saturday.
For most of the first half, they were there physically but not necessarily mentally.
The YRHS Raiders junior team got off to a bad start in their home opener against the Regina Renegades but had a strong finish. The visitors jumped out to an early lead and kept Yorkton's offence in check for the opening 24 minutes.
By the end of the half, they had a 21-0 lead on Yorkton.
Coach Shawn Redmond told them at halftime to only worry about winning the remainder of the game.It was important to put points up on the scoreboard, but he wasn't too concerned about making a 21-point comeback.
"I was expecting the worst," he said to the players during their halftime huddle. "Come Monday, we're going to get some more bodies," he reassured everyone.
By the time the second half was barely a few minutes old, it was very evident that some of those kids were listening to every word they heard from Redmond.
Mackenzie Shore, switched to safety for the opening play of the half, intercepted a Regina pass and ran it into the end zone to get Yorkton their first six point of the afternoon.
"We won (that half) 12-3," he said after the game.
Shore picked off another Regina pass before this one was done, and finished the day with a touchdown toss.
Raider co-coach Scott Wallace said the speech about winning the half was a motivational technique used by coach Redmond but admitted he had no idea if the players would buy it, or even understand what it means.
"It's a motivational tactic," he said. "Win or lose, we want to win the half."
According to quarterback Shore, that would have been awesome.
"I didn't expect this," he told the paper with a smile. "I expected to get crushed."
He added that he's been presented with a "pretty decent line."
Wallace said he was much more pleased with the team's effort in the second half, suggesting that it was a result of the YRHS Raiders not turning the ball over as often that allowed them to get back into it.
He added that a game played before the official start of classes, the coaches don't usually expect to have a full roster.
He said for their next game, they want to get the passing game going.
They'll get in some practice time, hopefully add some more players to the squad before their next home game, scheduled for Sept. 4 when they take on the Stampeders at Century Field.
