The Raiders minor football team wanted their season to end on the field and weren’t about to let Zeus tell them any different.

The Raiders brushed off the torrential rain that poured down from the heavens June 21 resulting in a flooded field at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon and bided their time for seven more days. On June 28 the Raiders marched back onto the gridiron and fought tooth and nail first with a strong Outlaws team and then an Outlook squad shortly after that.

“It was good for us,” said Raiders coach Blair Frederickson, noting they lost 28-21 to the Outlaws before falling 21-14 to Outlook. “We gave up touchdowns in the last two minutes, so they were both competitive and back-and-forth games. The ref on Saturday…said those were the hardest, most intense (and) well-played games I’ve seen this year.”

Frederickson said the eight-game season and 4-4 record the team compiled in the lead-up to the June 28 jamboree was a “good experience” for him and his coaching staff as well as the kids who took the field each game. He said the Saskatoon Minor Football League helps the players gain exposure to a wider range of coaches as well as show Football Saskatchewan personnel the skill and talent that is present in rural parts of the province.

“A couple times Football Saskatchewan guys came by and said ‘man, you guys are doing a nice job out there. These kids are really polite and well mannered. They go hard to the whistle and then they help the other team up and pat them on the back,'” he said. “I think that was a nice compliment for the kids and maybe a nice compliment for the other coaches.”

Coaches Trevor Ouellette and John Jamieson along with student coaches Andrew Read, Addison Ouellette and Jon Taylor joined Frederickson on the sidelines and on the field directing the players in the controlled games this season. He said the kids really benefited from the help of Andrew, Addison and Jon because they were able to reemphasize to the grades seven and eight kids the necessity to play hard to the whistle and always exhibit sportsmanship on the field.

To read more please see the July 7 print edition of The Davidson Leader.