It seems to be the same story every week for the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs football team. No matter who they 're up against, they play a hard, close game, only to come out on the losing end. The latest loss came at the hands of Moose Jaw's Vanier Vikings, in which the Elecs fell 15-10.
ECS had a bye last week and used the extra time to prepare for the Vikings, who entered Saturday's game against the Elecs undefeated with a 3-0 record, outscoring their opponents 96-9.
"They've put up some big numbers against other teams and we knew that. We did our homework, we wanted to contain their fast guys and that's what we came out and did," said Elecs' head coach Marco Ricci. "We wanted to get the ball into the hands of our real skilled guys and we had some opportunities and made some plays, we just fell short."
Estevan's defence had been excellent all season, and they we able to keep Vanier within striking distance all game, but in the end it wasn't enough. The contest was scoreless until the Vikings finally put the first points on the board early in the second quarter with a 25-yard field goal.
ECS got their offence going shortly after, when quarterback Jaren Prokop hooked up with Tanner Dutton, who took the ball 52-yards downfield, putting ECS in field goal range. Kicker Riley McCutcheon made no mistake, splitting the uprights and tying the game 3-3.
The Elecs defence continued their stellar play, keeping the high scoring Vikings without a touchdown in the first half. However, after two failed attempts, Vanier was successful with a third field goal try late in the quarter, and took a 6-3 lead at halftime.
Estevan conceded a safety early in the third quarter to make the score 8-3, and then linebacker Michael Bittman came up with a huge interception deep in ECS territory and ran the ball all the way to Vikings 20-yard line. The play would have been a major turning point in the game, but the Elecs were not able to capitalize.
"It definitely would have helped, we would have loved to have come away with some points, but we didn't, and that was the way the day went," said Ricci.
The Vikings then took a 15-3 lead in the fourth quarter when quarterback Matt Morris hit Ryan Froehlich in the end zone with a 5-yard touchdown pass, effectively taking the wind out of ECS' sails.
The Elecs were down, but not out at that point, and their resilience paid off, as Prokop found Dutton once again, this time for an 18-yard touchdown, bringing Estevan within five points. That was as close as they would come though. Vanier was able to run the clock out and hang on for a 15-10 win.
After the game, Ricci said his team is getting better and that they aren't too far away from their first win.
"It's getting closer, I know that the league knows that we're a very good team and we just have to stick to the plan," he said. "We're working hard in practice, the guys are running and sprinting we just don't have the numbers, but we have a lot of heart and we were very physical, we've just got to find a way to finish it off."
Ricci added that every team makes the playoffs so they still have a chance.
The next game for the Elecs is Friday on the road in Swift Current at 4 o'clock.
