The St. Mary Marauders wrapped up the month of September in convincing style Friday at Max Clunie Field.
After scoring a pair of touchdowns on their first two possessions, the Marauders controlled proceedings for the rest of the evening as they defeated the Bedford Road Redhawks by a score of 47-6.
“Although we knew as a coaching staff that there was a possibility of this being a bit of a mismatch, we wanted to make sure that our guys were diligent in their preparations this week and that they had proper respect for their opponent,” Marauders head coach Curt Hundeby said.
“We ran the ball a lot better than we had in the last couple of games and our offensive line was really aggressive out there. We also got our younger guys some playing time late and they got some good experience on defence as Bedford Road drove down the field at the very end of the game.”
Friday’s win improved the Marauders record to 3-1 for the season and has them in a tie for second place in the Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate 4A standings with the St. Joseph Guardians.
“We’ve had a number of guys step up for us this year,” Hundeby said. “I look at someone like Grant Alexander who didn’t have the season he wanted last year after a knee injury, and he’s become one of the top wideouts in our league.
“Our defence has been very strong as well. North Battleford and Walter Murray have given us challenges in the past with their offences, and we were able to limit them to a combined 28 points. There’s always room to improve, but our play on that side of the field is something were really happy about.”
The Marauders are now gearing up for their biggest game of the season as they’ll battle the Carlton Crusaders Thursday at Max Clunie Field at 6:30 p.m.
St. Mary has won the previous seven regular season contests against their crosstown rivals, but Carlton prevailed in their last meeting for the Division III title in November.
“The record never seems to matter when we play each other,” Hundeby said.
“We’ve had a chance to watch them a little bit this year and I think this is one of the better Carlton teams in awhile, especially on offence. We’re going to have our hands full with them next week and we’ll need to be at our absolute best.”
The Crusaders have a 2-2 record following a wild 9-8 win over the Tommy Douglas Tigers in Saskatoon Thursday.
