A dominant first half was all the Carlton Crusaders needed as they topped the Tommy Douglas Tigers 49-10 in high school football action Friday night at Max Clunie Field.

The Crusaders scored 27 points in the first quarter and 21 in the second on route to the victory.

Crusader head coach Lindsay Strachan says a strong start was the focus to the Crusader gameplan this week.

“We weren’t happy with where we were last week. It was good to get out on the right track. We were efficient in the first half. Which is what we talked about, getting off to a good start and we did in all three phases.”

It was just under two minutes into the first quarter when the Crusaders opened the scoring. Tazmin Smith-Windsor rushed the ball into the end zone from 8 yards out to give Carlton the lead right from the start.

A little over 2 minutes later, Gage Prodaehl caught a pass for a touchdown from 30 yards out to extend the Carlton lead.

Carlton would add two more touchdowns in the first quarter on receptions by Tristan O’Connell and Dayson Janvier.

The Crusaders kept the pressure on in the second quarter. Keenan Turner started the scoring for Carlton in the second quarter with an interception returned for a touchdown. Gage Prodaehl would record his second touchdown of the contest with a catch from 28 yards out. Jackson Hufnagel would then return an interception from 13 yards out to extend the Crusader lead to 48-0 at the half.

In the first half, Carlton rushed for 159 yards and passed for 163.

Strachan says the offense was clicking on all fronts.

“I thought we were pretty balanced. We were good on the ground and we hit some big plays through the air when we needed to. We were good and balanced here tonight.”

With Carlton leading comfortably, Strachan sent in his backups for much of the second half. Tommy Douglas would kick a field goal and a touchdown in the fourth quarter to bring the contest to 49-10.

Strachan says the Crusaders are glad to be back in the win column after last week’s loss to St. Joseph’s.

“We talked lots about getting the ship on track this week and getting back to where we want to be. It’s a good step. We got one more next week and (then it’s) getting geared for playoffs.”

The Crusaders are back in action on Friday, Oct. 14 against the Bethlehem Stars. Kick off is at 6:30pm.

The St. Mary Marauders football team finally broke through into the win column Thursday night with a 52-36 victory over the Bethlehem Stars in Saskatoon.

Marauder head coach Curt Hundeby says it was great for the team to pick up their first win of the campaign.

“It was really important. We’ve been waiting for a while. It was nice to see the guys figure out some issues and move the ball when we needed to and put up some points. It was close in the 4th quarter, we were able to make some plays and close it out. It was a real team effort.”

Offensively, the Marauders were led by their rushing attack as they compiled 416 yards on the ground. Tyson Prokopetz led the charge for St. Mary as he rushed for 166 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.

Hundeby says the key to the victory for the Marauders was the improvements the team made to their blocks.

“I thought we improved on a lot of our blocking angles and that was the biggest improvement in our run game. We were able to get holes where we needed to get holes to run through. Passing-wise, when we complete half of our passes, it keeps defenses more honest and they can’t just come after our run game. Those two things together make the biggest difference.”

St. Mary grabbed the early lead after one quarter as Prokopetz and Luke Kalmikoff ran for touchdowns and the Marauders grabbed an early 13-7 lead after one quarter.

St. Mary added nine points in the second quarter as Kalmikoff recorded his second touchdown of the game catching a 10 yard reception from quarterback Liam Martin. The Marauders would convert on the two point attempt and add a single on a missed field goal to lead 22-15 at the half.

In the third, St. Mary would score early on a 75 yard fumble recovery touchdown but Bethlehem would answer on a 95 yard touchdown run by Enoch Tsinkorang. Less then two minutes later, Jonah Reinheimer would catch a pass from 7 yards out.

St. Mary outscored the Stars 15-6 in the fourth quarter thanks to a 47 yard touchdown reception from Lukas Robin, a two point conversion and a 15 yard rushing touchdown by Griffin Johns.

Hundeby says it was the little blocking adjustments that made the difference in the Marauder win

“It was sustaining blocks and block angles is what did it. It doesn’t seem like much, but 10 to 15 degrees is the difference between making the block and not. Same person blocking the same person, just a slightly different angle and we got a play instead of not. When we’re talking little things, we’re literally talking 15 degrees.”

The Marauders are off until Thursday, Oct. 15 when they take on the Tommy Douglas Tigers in Saskatoon.

@nathanreiter14 • sports@paherald.sk.ca

After two long years with COVID protocols, the St. Mary Marauders volleyball program is ready to cross provincial lines to Spruce Grove, Alberta this weekend for the David Pysyk Memorial Tournament.

For the Marauder girls, it will be the first time for all players on the roster to be a part of the Alberta road trip as St. Mary features many Grade 11 players.

St. Mary girls volleyball head coach Shaun Hunko says the tournament provides a chance to see out of province competition.

“We weren’t able to get there for the last two years. None of the girls on this team have been to that tournament. It’s going to be a refreshing new tournament. It’s a unique tournament considering the majority of the teams are from Alberta, there’s very few Saskatchewan teams.”

The Marauders hoped to make the trip last volleyball season as COVID restrictions loosened, but those plans were canceled at the last minute.

Hunko says several current players watched siblings from the sidelines prior to the pandemic, and are eager to make the trip this year.

“They were really disappointed last year, because we thought we might be able to get there but we weren’t allowed. I know some of them have older siblings that played in the tournament. There’s a couple who watched it when they were younger.”

The Marauder girls have had a hot start to the year, medaling in all four tournaments (two gold, two silver) they have competed in so far this season.

Cassidy Schrader, a setter in Grade 11, says she’s looking forward to seeing fresh competition in Spruce Grove this weekend.

“I’m very excited. It’s going to be so much fun to play some different teams .These last few tournaments we’ve been playing the exact same teams. It’s going to be different to go out of province and just see all the teams and get more competition.”

The trip provides a chance for the team to bond off the court as well as on it throughout the Alberta road trip as the Marauders have set aside time on the itinerary for the teams to visit the West Edmonton Mall while in Alberta’s capital. 

“I think it’s going to be very important,” Schrader says. “I don’t know some of the girls super well. (I’m looking forward to) getting to know them and seeing more of them off the court rather than just on the court.”

The Marauder girls are in Pool E of the tournament with Lethbridge Collegiate Institute (Lethbridge, AB), Cochrane High School (Cochrane, AB), Archbishop O’Leary (Edmonton, AB), Jasper Place (Edmonton, AB) and Memorial Composite (Stony Plain, AB).

The Marauder girls kick off the David Pysyk Memorial Tournament on Friday at 10:15 a.m. against the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Clippers.

Tournament ‘a good measuring stick’ says Sr. Boys coach

Both volleyball teams from St. Mary will be making the trip to Alberta.

St. Mary Boys volleyball head coach Rene Quintall says the tournament is an excellent opportunity to evaluate where the team is at near the halfway point of the season.

“The tournament has always been a good measuring stick for our program. It’s an opportunity to play the best teams from Alberta, BC and Manitoba. It gives us an idea to identify some of our strengths and some of our weaknesses to work on for the remainder of the year.

“You’re playing some of the best teams out of Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver. If we’re able to compete against them, it’s showing that we are doing a good job. It’s going to give us a level of play to strive for and compete against.”

For some players on the boys roster, it will be the first and only time they will make the Alberta road trip. Carter Minier is in his Grade 12 season with the Marauders.  He says the entire team is looking forward to the trip.

“It’s exciting. I was on the team last year, a lot of guys didn’t get to one of these things. It’s kind of a St. Mary tradition to go. It’s really exciting, not only for me but my whole team to get out there and experience it.”

Minier says the trip should help the Marauders gel and become a better team at the end of the tournament.

“It should be really fun with the boys to go out. I know in years past they got to go to the water slides and stuff. It should be really fun off the court as well. It should drastically help our chemistry. Bonding together and becoming a team on and off the court. We want to play for each other and win for each other.”

The Marauder boys are in Pool B of the tournament with Lethbridge Collegiate Institute (Lethbridge, AB), MEI Secondary (Abbotsford, BC), Paul Kane (St. Albert, AB), Strathcona (Edmonton, AB), and Charles Spence (Grande Prairie, AB)

The Marauder boys open up the tournament at 10:15 am on Friday against MEI Secondary.

Despite strong defensive play, the Prince Albert Northern Bears couldn’t find the back of the net as they dropped their home opener to the Saskatoon Stars 3-0 in SFU18AAAHL action Saturday afternoon at the Art Hauser Centre.

Northern Bears head coach Steve Young says Prince Albert played well from the initial puck drop.

“I thought we came out and started strong. We worked hard, I think we gained confidence early which is important for the type of team we have. We knew playing a team like Saskatoon that has a lot of skill would be a lot of work and I thought we worked hard here today.”

The Bears were under siege early as Saskatoon had several chances early in the game, but veteran goaltender Brooke Archer stood tall in net for Prince Albert, making 25 saves on 28 shots in the contest.

Young says Archer took the pressure in stride.

“I thought she handled it very well. Brooke is coming here with the attitude that she wants this to be her best year and I thought she handled the game well today.”

The most notable save Archer made on the afternoon was a breakaway save on Saskatoon’s Ireland Stein. After a turnover in the neutral zone, Stein was sprung on an uncontested breakaway.

Archer says her initial reaction wasn’t calm and collected, but she knew exactly what she needed to do in that situation.

“I was kind of scared. I knew I had to be patient. Lots of times, I move before anything happens. I knew to let her make the first and make my move after.”

Saskatoon would open the scoring at the 10:57 mark of the second period as Sage Babey would beat Archer assisted by Kolbee Ashe and Rachel Pavlove.

The Stars got an insurance goal at the 14:57 mark of the third period as Sage Babey got her second of the game unassisted. Saskatoon would add a power play goal with 25 seconds remaining from Avery Bairos.

Prince Albert was held off the scoresheet as Saskatoon goaltender Tora Ward stopped all 26 shots she faced in the contest.

Young says the key for the Bears tomorrow is to create more traffic in front of the net.

“It’s important whoever it is to get the net. You got to create things. We got to get to the net more tomorrow.”

Although the scoresheet didn’t have the results the Bears were hoping for, the team is confident knowing they can play alongside a strong Saskatoon team.

Archer says the Bears know what they need to do in the rematch Sunday.

“I think after today, we know we can stick with them. Tomorrow we have to come in and play confident and keep up the speed and just get pucks on net.”

The Northern Bears are back in action Sunday against the Saskatoon Stars. Puck drops at 1:30pm.

It wasn’t the result the Carlton Crusaders were hoping for as they fell 47-10 to the St. Joseph’s Guardians during high school football action Thursday night.

Crusader head coach Lindsay Strachan says the team knew they would be facing a good football team this week.

“We knew we had a stiff test coming in and they were as advertised. We are going to see some must win games. It wasn’t tonight. We know where the bar is from here on out.”

Coming into action Thursday, St. Joseph had only given up 13 points in three games so far this season.

Strachan says the Crusaders played well to start but needed more consistency on offense.

“We turned the ball over too much in the first half. We forced our defense to stay on the field, they did a good job for us early. We just needed to sustain some drives and put some points up, lots of learning tonight.”

St. Joseph scored early and often on Thursday. Carter Casey ran the ball in from a yard out and Tyrell Mohr caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Guardians up 14-0 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Thomas Jule extended the Guardian lead with a 48-yard touchdown reception. St. Joseph would add another touchdown, plus a safety, to lead 30-0 at the half.

In the third quarter, the St. Joseph Guardians would extend their lead 33-0 as Carter Casey would kick a 35 yard field goal.

The Carlton Crusaders would break through on the scoreboard in the third quarter as Gage Prodaehl would convert on a 30-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Tristan O’Connell would break several Guardian tackles and make it to the end zone for a 46-yard score.

In the second half, St. Joseph outscored the Crusaders 17-10.

The Carlton Crusaders are back in action on Friday, Oct. 7 when they host the Tommy Douglas Tigers at Max Clunie Field. Kick off is at 6:30 pm.