Sabres drop homecoming games

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This article was published 06/10/2022 (993 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

The Steinbach Regional Secondary School’s (SRSS) varsity and junior varsity football teams battled hard, but were unable to come away with victories during their homecoming games Sept. 29 at A.D. Penner Park.

With SRSS alumni who currently play for the Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Rifles in attendance, the Sabres dropped decisions to the Grant Park Raiders, with the junior varsity team losing 34-18 and the varsity crew falling 16-0.

Both games opened with a smudging ceremony to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation which took place the following day. Grant Park players wore an orange hand-print sticker on their helmets, which read “every child matters,” and many of the students in attendance were also wearing orange to mark the date.

Offense was hard to come by for both teams in the varsity match-up. Grant Park held a lead of 2-0 after the first quarter, only able to generate points when the Sabres conceded a safety.

The Sabres defense looked strong throughout the game, but the Pirates would strike in the final 30 seconds of the half, thanks to a brilliant catch from Deondre Nicholson, which set up a goal to go. Nicholson leapt over three Sabres defenders to snag the pass.

Steinbach managed to move the ball at times on offense, but every drive seemed to peter out as soon as they crossed midfield.

Dom Barkanyi even chipped in two interceptions to set up the Sabres offense with solid field position, but the offense couldn’t cash in.

Zane Friesen lead the offense for the Sabres, racking up 65 yards receiving, while Austin Neufeld chipped in with 53 rushing yards in addition to a solid spell on defense.

Sabres coach Jamie Peters noted after the game Steinbach was undermanned on the offensive and defensive line, shouting out Austin Dyck, Myles Peters, Kean Thorvaldson, Benson Gruninger, Luke Toews and Mack Dueck for gutting out injuries to still perform.

The junior varsity squad was looking for revenge after dropping a game to the Pirates 39-0 a couple weeks ago. The Pirates looked to be cruising to another dominant performance, scoring twice early, before Josiah Grenier took a pass 60 yards for his first of two touchdowns on the day.

“Ultimately, a few mistakes in a three phases of the game proved to be the difference as the Pirates pulled out a victory,” Peters said.

Both the varsity and junior varsity squads will be in action against the St Paul’s Crusaders in Winnipeg Oct. 6. The junior varsity team will return to Steinbach to take on Vincent Massey Oct. 12 at 4:30 p.m., and the varsity team will next play at home Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.