Yorkton rolls to commanding win over Vanier Defending champs remain undefeated with 54- 0 victory
The Moose Jaw High School Football League hit the midway point of the season over the weekend.
The Yorkton Raiders look like they haven’t lost a single step from their league championship campaign of 2017 with a 54-0 win over the Vanier Vikings on Sept. 22 at Gutheridge Field.
The Raiders racked up 462 yards of total offence – including 289 yards through the air – and seemed to move the ball at will at times, in the second half, while showing-off an offensive attack that was as varied as it was skilled.
Quarterback Jordin Rusnack was having an ‘off’ day by his standards, completing only 14 of his 26 passes in cold and windy conditions. ‘By his standards’ is important in this case, as those 14 completions resulted in six touchdowns and passes caught by five different receivers.
“It went pretty well at the start, we were just trying to feel them out, setting up for some of our extra plays where we hit them deep,” Rusnack said of the Raiders’ strategy. “There were some short gains that could have been more and some penalties that screwed us up, but it worked out so well in the end.”
Carson Sveinbjornson had four catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, while Tyler Harasymuk caught three passes for 71 yards and two majors. Rusnack himself had one touchdown on the ground to go along with his team-leading nine carries for 85 yards; Garion Miller, Dylan Lepowick and Johntee Ostapowich also had touchdowns for Yorkton.
Needless to say, Rusnack is more than happy to have the number of options he has to move the offence.
“It’s great,” he said. “Throwing-wise, we have receivers who can make plays on a bad throw or make great catches. Then we have two stud running backs who can hit the hole and get downfield... we’re pretty confident right now and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do the rest of the way.”
As lopsided as the final score might have been, the Vikings came out of the contest with their head held high – even though they had only 22 yards of total offence, they had their moments of potential on both sides of the ball. “We’re keeping positive; that’s a good team,” said Vanier running back Tyler Lorenz. “They’re 3-0 and they beat Central, so to see our defence holding the best offence in the league, that gives you lots of positives. And our offensive line, they’re moving some of the best defenders in the league right there and getting vertical seems... It might have been a bad outcome, but it’s still positive knowing that you can play with these guys.”