By WAYNE SHIELS
It was an unseasonably warm sunny day as the Clavet Cougars and Wakaw Warriors took the field in Clavet for their 2A 6-A-Side provincial championship game Saturday, November 9.
The sidelines were packed with hometown supporters and a large contingent of Warriors supporters who had made the short trip down Highway 41.
The Cougars’ starting quarterback, Waylon Blacklock, was hitting dimes all over the field, throwing for 11 touchdowns in Clavet’s 90-51 win. Receiver Clark Goebel hauled in five of those, while Ryan Morrison had four touchdown catches and added a rushing touchdown on a power drive from the two yard line. Aiden Lalonde and Ryder Anderson also had touchdown catches.
Wakaw quarterback Griffin LeBlanc ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more.
On the first offensive play of the game LeBlanc hit Nolan Holmes on a crossing route and the talented receiver from Aberdeen outraced everyone to the end zone, giving the visitors a great start.
He also threw a touchdown pass to Austin Hamoline, another receiver from Aberdeen, later in the game. Isaac Frie ran for a touchdown. Wakaw’s final touchdown run was a Cudworth boy #32 Cruz Symak-Goller.
Holmes and Hamoline were two of seven players from Aberdeen who helped the Warriors reach the provincial final.
Since Aberdeen no longer has a football program they signed a co-op agreement to play for Wakaw. This allowed them to play a sport they love and they played a big role in Wakaw reaching the finals.
The players from Aberdeen included: Nykomis Serventyk, Mason Procyshyn, RJ Muller, Aaron Dieno, Austin Hamoline, Nolan Holmes, and Braxton Wudrick.
The Clavet victory capped off a dominant undefeated season for the Cougars, where they outscored their opponents 554-142. It was the completion of their goal to three-peat, giving Grade 12 athletes an epic feat of winning three gold medals in their high school careers.
It was their experience that Clavet’s head coach Shaun Priel credited for the win.
“We benefited by having a lot of grade 12s back from last year where they had success. They knew how to face some of the challenges and adversity and bounce back. The first play of the game they scored a touchdown and it was: ‘we will be fine’. That comes from being two and three year starters,” said Priel.
OTHER RESULTS:
Other provincial winners were:
* A 6-A-Side Hafford 74 Hanley 22
* 4A 9-A-Side Melfort 86 Tisdale 27
* 5A 12-A-Side PA Carlton 35 Bishop James Mahoney 34
* 6A 12-A-Side Saskatoon St. Joseph 54 Regina Campbell 12