Jason Low, head coach of the Davidson Raiders junior football team, has “high expectations” for his second-year club as they head into their first jamboree of the season this Saturday at the Ranch.

“There are a lot of really good athletes in that age group (with) lots of passion for football,” said Low. “Those are the boys when we started the team that we always saw out on their own time on the weekends and evenings playing football in the field. They’re all very excited.”

The Raiders are lining up against squads from Watrous and Outlook at the Ranch, but there is a possibility a fourth team could be added to the bill. After this weekend, the Raiders would head to Watrous for a jamboree Sept. 21 and Outlook for a mini-tournament on Sept. 28.

Low said the junior football program is different from the senior team as coaches are on the field with players during game action and everything during the game is geared towards a developmental process. He said the games are also not structured the same as in senior football, so fans coming out to watch the junior Raiders this Saturday should expect a few differences.

“Davidson offence would have 10 plays in a row against the other team’s defence and (then) they’ll switch,” he said. “The other team will then get 10 plays against (our) defence. They just go back and forth like that. That is how the style of game goes and there is no kickoffs or field goals. It is all running and passing plays. If you get a touchdown the first play, you still get nine more plays.”

Raiders associate coach Trevor Ouellette said games usually last around 45 to 50 minutes and the first one this Saturday should start at about 10 a.m. with the next game at 11 a.m. and the final one at noon. He said there is no score taken during the games and there are no winners or losers.

“The players know the score, but the coaches don’t,” said Ouellette. “We don’t care. It’s purely developmental. The kids play some games and that’s all. There are no standings.”

Ouellette said the junior program is mainly about getting players ready for the jump to senior action. He said these games give the kids an introduction to live contact and also enables the coaches an opportunity to stress safe practices.

Low said these three jamborees should provide a “pretty full day” for the kids involved and he hopes more games would make it onto the schedule before the season ends.

“We should have quite a few games for the boys this year,” he said.