The Labour Day drama between football teams from Saskatchewan and Winnipeg wasn’t confined to Mosaic Stadium.
The Moose Jaw Rebels erased a 23-7 fourth quarter deficit to beat the Winnipeg Doggs 26-23 in overtime and win the Labor Day Classic prairie regional touch football tournament in Regina.
“It was really crazy,” said Bob Craig from the Rebels. “We needed two touchdowns and two two-point converts in the fourth quarter to tie it up.
“The Winnipeg team was playing really well, we just made some big plays at the right time.”
The Rebels offence finally got going in the fourth quarter and Evan Jones, Riley Brydges and Leighton Heron made big catches to cap the late comeback.
In overtime, the Rebels made their first convert from five yards out to core a point and after stopping the Doggs twice, they attempted a convert for two points from the 10 yard line to put the game out of reach.
Quarterback Colin Belsher escaped the rush to find Heron in the end zone to end the game.
“It was the most drama I’ve ever seen in a football game like that at the end,” said Craig.
The Rebels were a collection of players from three teams from the local touch football league.
They came together quickly and finished 3-0 to secure the top seed in their pool. The Rebels beat the Regina Rage in the semifinal before knocking off the Doggs.
The Rebels had been to the tournament five times previously, but this was their first title.
“We didn’t really know what to expect,” said Craig. “We heard rumours about some of the teams from Winnipeg being really good. Once we started playing, we played well and we clicked.”
The tournament featured teams from all three prairie provinces.
For more please see Thursday’s Times-Herald.
