The first road game of the season was looking to be a solid one for the Carlton Crusaders football team on Friday night as they visited the North Battleford Vikings at Beaver Lions Stadium.
However, things started to turn south in a hurry near the end of the opening half.
“At the end of the second quarter, we were driving down the field and had the ball on their goal line to cut their lead to 17-7,” Crusaders head coach Lindsay Strachan said.
“Then we started to run into some injury trouble and we lost our quarterback with a couple of plays left in the first half, so it was a bit of a scramble from that point on.”
The injury woes proved to be too much for the Crusaders to overcome as they ended up losing a 42-0 affair to the Vikings and fell to 0-2 for the season.
“When we had our whole team out there for the first half, we were able to compete with them,” Strachan said. “It wasn’t a case of us showing up and them running us out of the building.
“We were putting together good drives on offence and our defence had forced a couple of turnovers in the first half, but when you start putting guys into different roles that aren’t used to, it can get a little tough out there.”
The Vikings, who have yet to give up a point this season, improved to 2-0 with the victory.
Next up for the Crusaders is a 3 p.m. contest on Friday against the 1-1 Bethlehem Stars at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
The Stars, who are coming off of a win over the St. Mary Marauders last weekend, have a similar style offence as the Vikings as both sides like to utilize their rushing attack.
“We knew that we were going to be facing three really good teams off the bat this year,” Strachan said.
“There’s no wasted time out on the field. We’re learning and growing every minute that we are out here.”
