If high school football was a 13-minute sport, the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs would be sitting pretty after their game against the Swift Current Colts.
Unfortunately for the Elecs (1-3), they had to play more than just one minute beyond the first quarter and their 14-2 early lead against the Colts (4-1) evaporated into a 51-15 loss in Moose Jaw High School Football League action at Woodlawn Field.
“We played really well in that first quarter, forcing some turnovers and then things turned for us in the second half and towards the end of the second quarter,” said Elecs head coach Mark Schott.
“We came out with a lot of fire and we came out with a lot of urge and will to win this game,” said receiver/defensive back/quarterback Rylan Erdelyan. “Then a couple of injuries happened and we just started to fall from there. Not really worried going into next week.”
Jonah Bachorcik and Nigel Mack each caught touchdown passes from Kaleb Bechtold to give the Elecs the lead. But in the second quarter, punter Colten Kolakowski couldn’t haul down a high snap, and while trying to run with the ball he got tackled hard and the ball popped out. The Colts grabbed the loose ball and ran into the end zone.
The Colts were able to expose some matchups with their top receiver Rhett Vavra against some of the banged up defensive backs and linebackers.
“(Vavra) is a hell of a player and we just didn’t shift,” Schott said. “We caught him and they connected with a number of touchdowns in the second half, which created some separation.”
Then in the second half, the Colts used the run game and the legs of Shane Friesen to get an even bigger lead. All while the Elecs were unable to move the ball consistently on offence.
“If you can’t move the ball on offense, you’re not going to out up points,” Schott said. “We kept putting our defence in a tough spot.”
Injuries once again took their toll on the Elecs on the field, as Erdelyan, Jonah Bachorcik and Bechtold each spent time getting helped off the field, before coming back a few plays later and getting hurt again.
“We’ve experienced this a couple of games already and any time you have to adjust personnel for injury it’s a big factor,” said Schott. “We just hope our guys are OK and we’ve got a quick turnaround here.”
The Elecs next two games are on the road, including Thursday at Moose Jaw Central, followed by Oct. 9 when they travel up to Yorkton to conclude the regular season.
“Central’s second in our league right now and they probably have one of the best offenses on our league,” said Schott. “Our defence is going to be definitely tested on Thursday. We’ve got to address some coverage issues at practise in the next couple of days and hopefully that can factor in for us on Thursday.”
“We’ll practice hard all week and work out all our injuries,” said Erdelyan. “(We need to) just bring the fire and intensity into practice all week and then come out in the game on fire again.”
