The Vanier Vikings were proud to be part of it, but they were keen to spoil the party after a long wait of their own.
The Vikings won their first Moose Jaw High School Football League regular season game since 2006 with a 34-7 victory over the Elecs.
“It felt awesome to finally get a win,” said senior running back Michael North. “I’m glad to get a win and boost our confidence. Now that we have a win under our belt it’s going to show everyone what they can do and what our potential is.”
It certainly didn’t come easy. The Elecs came out fired up in front of a big home crowd and only trailed 7-0 at the half. The Elecs missed a pair of field goals as they moved the ball into Vanier’s half.
“I’ll tell you what, Estevan is going to be OK. They’re going to win some games,” said Vanier head coach Doug Panko. “They have a lot of size and a lot of speed and they’re very well coached. Their program is off to a great start.”
Panko credited Estevan head coach Marco Ricci and the community for doing everything they could to make them feel at home in addition to all of the work they’ve done to get their program going and get Woodlawn Park ready to host high school football.
“We were really honoured to be part of Estevan’s stepping into high school football,” said Panko. “They were very well organized and they’ve had to cover a lot of ground in a very short amount of time.
“They had a great crowd — very enthusiastic and very supportive.”
The Vikings had some injuries on the offensive line that they had to combat. Once they settled down in the second half they were able to wear down the Elecs and use their speed for some big plays.
“Their defence kept us in check,” said Panko. “I think we just started to grind it out and wear them down. Michael North, in particular, ran extremely hard and played a punishing game.
“The physical nature of our game just started to wear them down. Then the speed factor came into play with Michael North, Keegan Arnyek and Brandin Cannon.”
Cannon had a huge game as he caught a pair of touchdown passes from Ryan Froehlich and ran for another major. Michael North and Braden North each had a rushing touchdown for the Vikings.
It felt awesome to finally get a win. - Senior running back Michael North
