Jason Kerr
Daily Herald
The St. Mary Marauders will draw on their memories of 2023 when they take the field Saturday looking afternoon to face the top ranked Carlton Crusaders in the North Saskatchewan High School Football League final.
The Crusaders dominated the Marauders the last time the two teams met, opening up a big first-half lead on route to a 48-0 victory at Max Clunie Field. However, St. Mary head coach Curt Hundeby likes his team’s chances heading into Saturday’s final.
“I think we played better than the score indicated, to be honest,” Hundeby said when asked about the regular season meeting between the two teams. “We had some struggles on offence, didn’t close, and we had some mistakes on defence both in scheme and just personal play.
“Carlton’s a very good team, so when you make mistakes, they make you pay, so those mistakes showed up on the scoreboard. I know that we’re a better team than that, so I hope our guys are able to put their best foot forward this coming Saturday…. There should be a very different looking St. Mary team on the field.”
St. Mary has recent history on their side. In 2023, the fourth place Marauders upset the first place Crusaders 32-28. Hundeby said St. Mary has players on their current roster who played in the 2023 game, so they know an upset is possible.
“They’re ranked number one, we’re ranked three, but that’s why you play the football game,” he said.
“Depending on the day and depending on how guys are prepared and dialed in, anything can happen. We are certainly preparing for this game to give them the best possible game we can, and we think we’ve got some stuff that’s going to match up well against them.
“We’ll see how well we execute on the field, and obviously we’ll see how we manage the preparation that they’ve done for us.”
Carlton cruised into the championship game with a 39-0 victory over North Battleford in the NSFL semi-final. The Crusaders are looking for their second straight league title.
While Hundeby is optimistic his club can knock off the Crusaders, he said Carlton also has a few players who dressed for the 2023 playoff upset, and they will be eager to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“I know (Carlton head) coach (Lindsay) Strachan well enough to know that he will not take this game lightly,” Hundeby said. “I also know that they’ve got handful of players on their roster who were on that team two years ago that got upset by us, so I know they’re not going to come into it casually either. I think it should be a very good game. I just hope that we can play our best football at this time of year, because that’s what it’s going to take to beat them.”
The North Saskatchewan Football League final begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Max Clunie Field.
Marauders defeat Martensville to book spot in NSFL final
The St. Mary Marauders turned the tables on the Martensville Royals with a 35-18 victory that earned them a spot in the NSFL final.
The Royals defeated the Marauders 31-12 back on Sept. 12, but St. Mary returned the favour on Friday, Oct. 17 with a 35-18 victory that knocked Martensville out of the playoffs.
“It was a good gritty game, and it was nice to get a chance to play Martensville a second time,” St. Mary head coach Curt Hundeby said. “We knew after the first time we played them in the regular season that was not the result we wanted. I think we just didn’t put our best version of ourselves on the field that day.”
The weather played a big factor in the Oct. 17 St. Mary win. Hundeby said the Royals have a strong passing game, but high winds forced both teams to move the ball on the ground.
While their run defence wasn’t prefect, Hundeby said it has significantly improved since the start of the season.
“I think the guys just did a really good job of battling for four quarters,” he said. “We came up with a pretty good game plan, I thought, to match up against some of their better players to try and take away some of their favourite things. The wind helped a lot, to be honest. It was quite windy, and they’re a pretty heavy passing type of team, so that made a big difference.”
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
