Springfield Sabres win football banner at IG Field

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This article was published 09/11/2023 (620 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

The Springfield Collegiate Sabres capped off their first season in the top division of high school football in memorable fashion, winning the Bramwell Bowl at IG Field in Winnipeg.

The Sabres defeated the Kildonan East Reivers 24-0 to take home the banner. The Bramwell Bowl was awarded to the winner in the playoff between teams 12th to 16th in the province-wide AAAA standings.

The game lacked drama from beginning to end, with both Kildonan and Springfield struggling to get their downfield passing game going. The teams combined for less than 10 passes past the line of scrimmage until late in the game, when Kildonan tried to mount a desperation comeback.

“Sometimes, winning is a lot like pizza,” Springfield head coach Tom Walls said after the game.

“Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good… Sometimes enough is good enough.”

The Sabres defense was dominant throughout the game, even moreso than the shutout would indicate. Kildonan had little success throughout the night, only picking up a few first downs throughout the game.

The Reivers had injuries before the game, and it only got worse throughout, as multiple options at quarterback were forced from the game.

Walls said he changed the team’s practice routine this season, giving players a rest day before every game.

“It’s really hard for football coaches to do that, but it paid off at the end of the year,” he said.

“We came in with a pretty healthy roster, we’re not leaving with a healthy roster.”

While it appeared Kildonan may be able to use a size mismatch in the trenches to pound the ball on the ground, Springfield’s defensive backfield did a great job rallying to tackle and limit any yardage.

Walls credited that running defense success to a drill called Alabama, which helped players practice group-tackling.

“We are at a size mismatch every game we play, we are never bigger than another team,” Walls said, laughing.

“We do our conditioning with that (drill), so it seems to show up in games.”

The game was flipped in the first quarter on special teams. With neither team generating much offense, Springfield managed to block a punt inside the Kildonan red zone, and promptly scored on the ensuing drive. The Sabres used their first downfield pass of the game to great effect, with Greason Pats connecting with tight end Brayden Allen for a wide open touchdown.

“It was not a very Canadian-ish game,” Walls said, in reference to the lack of passing.

“(Pats) made the passes when he needed to. He’s also a grade 10, and you can’t ask young kids to do more than they’re ready to do. That’s unfair to the kids.”

Most of the Sabres’ offensive output came from player-of-the-game running back Josh Schers, who also chipped in with a late rushing touchdown of his own in addition to the yardage. Noah Hickey caught a tipped touchdown pass in the second half, with Mitchel Magwood going 4/4 on field goals and extra points to round out the scoring.

Walls said the first year under the new re-alignment was a positive for Springfield football, but hopes to see some tweaks going forward.

The top 22 teams in the province played in a single division this year, split into geographic divisions. The Sabres finished 3-4 in regular season play, then won two post-season games.

“We got to play the best teams in Manitoba this year, and we learned a lot from it,” Walls said.

“What has to be kept in perspective, is we’re a school of 560 kids. (Kildonan East) is well over 1,000, last week’s school was well over 1,000 the week before that was over 1,000. We’re playing giants compared to our size. I think sooner or later there needs to be a reckoning of school size.”

The game needed to be stopped for an extended length of time in the fourth quarter after a Kildonan East lineman took a hard shot to the head. The player was taken to hospital by ambulance in a neck brace. Reivers head coach Jason Hawkins said the player returned home the next day after staying overnight.

Hawkins thanked the Springfield athletic trainers for assisting while waiting for first responders to arrive.