SRSS Sabres battle to win in home football opener

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This article was published 11/09/2025 (196 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An emotional week for the Steinbach Regional Sabres football program came to an end with a win on the field, as the school’s varsity team defeated the Vincent Massey Vikings in their first game of the season 29-13 Sept. 5 at A.D. Penner Park.

The game was played just a few days after one of their players died in a dirt bike crash Aug. 31.

“They played hard, they were physical, at times we were imposing our will on our opponent, which is what we want to do,” varsity head coach Stephen Fedus said after the game.

“(The players) can be proud of their effort, proud of this win. It hasn’t been an easy week for us.”

The game flipped when defensive back Juddah Wohlgemuth jumped a flat route in his own end and took the ball all the way back for six, turning a 7-3 deficit into an SRSS lead.

“The first drive was awesome, really physical,” Fedus said.

“We didn’t finish. A little bit of inexperience, penalties hurt momentum and turnovers. The defense really, really responded to some adverse situations.”

The Steinbach attack was led on the ground, with the program’s strong offensive line looking dominant for stretches, opening up massive holes for running back Wade Anderson to run through. While stats from the game had yet to be posted to the league’s website, program head Jamie Peters guessed the Sabres racked up more than 350 rushing yards throughout the game.

Fedus, who is considered one of the best offensive line gurus in the province, said the entire team is working to learn how to play with that imposing style. He credited the team’s group of receivers for embracing their roles blocking in the run game as well as running routes in the passing game.

“Aggression can be taught,” Fedus said.

“You have to embrace the attitude that you’re trying to protect somebody and embrace the idea that every rep is a fight, and you want to put the other guy on his back.”

Fedus was especially happy with the result given just four years ago the team from Brandon had beaten Steinbach three games in a row. With the Winnipeg high school league doing away with geographic divisions, more varied potential match-ups are possible.

“Vincent Massey Brandon is a very good program, so beating them is a good win,” Fedus said.

“Historically our games have been very close with each other.”

The result has the Sabres even ahead of recent powerhouse Dakota, which dropped their first game of the season 11-3 in a heavyweight match-up against Oak Park.

“There were periods of the game where we were very good, so the kids can be proud of that, but we’ve got to find a way to be good for 48 minutes,” Fedus said.

“We weren’t good for 48 minutes today. That’s the challenge.”

The Springfield Sabres, who play out of Oakbank and are slotted in Tier 2 this season, also picked up a week one win, defeating Garden City in a 41-6 blowout.

Both Sabres teams are on the road this week, with Springfield playing Murdoch MacKay Sept. 13 and Steinbach visiting Brandon to take on Crocus Plains Sept. 11. Springfield will open their home schedule Sept. 19, with Steinbach next in action at A.D. Penner Park when they take on Dakota Sept. 26.