Week 4
This is the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] week of Edmonton and surrounding area Midget season football. After this week there is one regular season game left for each team. Unfortunately some of these teams will not be playing in their playoff game, one because the U-18s are this week, and two for some of the teams injuries have taken a toll on the number of players, and coaches will not risk anymore players getting hurt.
Battle river shock have remained undefeated through the whole season so far, shutting the Edmonton Chargers out 60-0 on May 1[SUP]st[/SUP]
The Leduc Ti-cats also played on May 1[SUP]st[/SUP], against the Sherwood park wolverines, winning 40-0. With injuries that week to the Wolves, both teams agreed to run straight time. The Cats have a large roster with probably 30+ players there on Tuesday. But they are one of those teams in the League that play with honor. No cheap shots, nothing dirty, they really did play fantastic.
Frustrated? Sure, giving up? Never The Wolverines and their merged team the Eagles have the same point of view on the game, “Never give up” It may have been a rough season but Head coach Mike Rowe, doesn’t care, for all the coaches it’s about what you learn from the game, what you take back with you to high school, and most importantly how you represent yourself on the field. As Rowe always say’s, “ I don’t care if we win a game, that’s not what this is about for me”
It will be a sad end to the season, because for most of the 2011 players, this is the end of their Midget journey, but they can graduate knowing how proud they should be of themselves and how proud the coaches are of them. The players that are to old to play anymore, but still come out and support the team, help coach, and all the other things they do for each other. It’s not just a football season, the players are friends, teammates, but most of all Brothers.
The Lloydminster Red Dogs improved it’s record to 3–1 this past week with wins over the South Edmonton Chargers and North Edmonton Seahawks. The Red Dogs traveled to Edmonton to play the Chargers on Saturday, and after a great start the Red Dogs were able to hold on for the 28–23 win. “We had a really good first half, but in the second half they scored and they were able to make it interesting,” said head coach Rod Kirby. “They actually took the lead on us with about two and a half minutes left in the game, 23–22, and then (Donivan) Grannum took the kickoff back about 125 yards for a touchdown, so he pulled it out and then our defense held tough after that.”
The team would suffer a tough loss in that game, however, as the Red Dogs would lose Bray Josue for the rest of the season with a broken collarbone. With Corsen Braham already gone to a knee injury, the remaining Red Dogs would step up to earn a huge 27–12 victory over the North Edmonton Seahawks on Tuesday. Grannum, Hippe and Matt Holman each had touchdowns for the Red Dogs in the victory. Along with Andrew Callfas, a rookie that came in and played tailback, the Red Dogs got great performances out of Matt Holman and Karl Telidetzki as the squad got out to a quick 25–0 lead over the Seahawks.
The Parkland Predators have remained undefeated, coming off a 56-0 win on Tuesday night over the MillWoods Grizzlies, head coach Chris Fricker said his team is staying focused on what they need to do to be successful and so far, it’s paying off. The latest victory was their second of the week, following a 28-21 win over the Mustangs. His team’s success has come largely from the offense as they’ve put up some pretty big numbers but at the same time, the guys on the other side of the ball are also holding their own.
“Most of these guys came from high school and were starters,” said the coach. “They’ve gone through a lot of battles out there and their experience kind of overwhelms the younger teams. Our No. 1 concern is how we practice. The main focus of Midget ball is worrying about ourselves getting better. Our whole focus here is to get us ready for Provincials run in high school ball this fall.”
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
