Warman Wolverines jump into 12-man football fray
The Warman Wolverines learned to play nine-man football proficiently over the years. Now, they’re being asked to figure out the 12-man sport — quickly.
The Wolverines, who have won the last two nine-man provincial titles, are moving up to the 12-aside Saskatoon city league. After just seven practice days, and no pre-season games, they’ll play the two-time defending champion Bishop Mahoney Saints in the opening game of the Saskatoon High School Football League season today at 3 p.m. at SMF Field. No pressure.
“If we’re going to learn, we’re going to learn quick,” says Warman head coach Tyler Scheidt, who played a key role in building the program from scratch a decade ago. “We’ll figure it out quick how good we need to be.
“We’ve built a program that’s used to competing at a high level, that expects a lot out of ourselves, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
That challenge includes dealing with three extra players a side.
In nine-man play, Warman’s offence frequently lined up with three down linemen, four receivers, a running back and a quarterback. In 12-man, they’re adding two more down linemen, and another running back or a receiver.
On defence, they will need more defensive backs than before.
“There’s a lot of learning going on right now, not only for the kids but for the coaches,” Scheidt said.
“Our kids are really having to work to adjust. You play one game for a couple years and you kind of know where the opposition is going to be and how to get to those opposition. Now, there’s more players out there.”
Making the transition a little easier, seven Grade 12 starters return on offence and another five on defence. Starting quarterback Tristen Denis returns. Receiver Lachlan Horsley will see a lot of playing time along with offensive lineman Reese Trohak. Simon Shabaga will be an important piece of the puzzle on defence.
This challenge is not the biggest Scheidt has faced.
That came 10 years ago, when the football program didn’t exist.
A decade later, Scheidt is happy about the latest step forward.
“Nine-man is a great game and a good league,” Scheidt said. “We very much enjoyed that, but we’re looking forward to the new challenge of trying to play 12-man as well.”