It was a mixed result for the Prince Albert River Riders as they split with the Saskatoon Steelers at Max Clunie Field on Sunday afternoon.

The Steelers defeated the River Riders in the Pee Wee age division game 41-24. Prince Albert trailed at one point 22-18 but fell behind in the second half. 

Lindsay Strachan, a coach for the Pee Wee River Riders says the team came up short offensively after halftime.

“Offensively, we went a little bit cold. We moved the ball effectively in the first half. We just ran out of gas a little bit. We’re playing a good football team. That’s a well-coached football team. We weren’t moving the ball, we put the defense on more. It was a great effort, and we are going to learn a lot from today’s effort.”

In the second game, the bantam River Rider defense was the star of the show as the Saskatoon Steelers were held scoreless in a 14-0 game. Two safeties were recorded by the River Rider defence. 

Bantam head coach Joey Hemsworth says the team came to play on Sunday.

“It was a very hard game. Our defence played unbelievable. Our defence scored 4 points with two safeties. They didn’t allow any points. I’m very proud of my defence. Offense played well, we just got to work on finishing drives. All phases we were pretty solid today.

The Steeler offence was stifled all afternoon long with thr strong defensively play from the River Riders.

Hemsworth says the defense did especially well against the Steeler passing game.

“We rushed the quarterback really well. Our d-line played well. He had no place to throw the ball either. Our DBs were in the right spots. All around our defense played well.”

The Pee Wee River Rivers improved to 1-1 with the loss while the Bantam River Riders stayed undefeated at 2-0 on the young season.