SPORTS FLASHBACK 2002: Eastman Raiders upset Lions in semis

For the first time in the 12-year history of the Eastman minor football program, an Eastman Raiders teams has made it to the league finals.

In arguably the most exciting and dramatic victory an Eastman football team has ever been involved in, the 16-18 Raiders staged a monumental upset, as they edged the heavily favored Fort Garry Lions 23-20 to advance to the league championship against Winnipeg Nomads.

This is an unbelievable story, and this is how it reads. The Raiders snuck into the play-offs, nabbing the fourth and final berth with a 4-4 record. That pitted them against the vaunted first place Fort Garry Lions, a formidable opponent, to be sure. This is a team that, just two weeks earlier, at the same Lions Field in Winnipeg, demoralized the Raiders to the tune of 49-7.

Fort Garry won the two previous league championships with 10 straight victories each year. Just a few weeks ago, St Vital handed Fort Garry their first loss in three years, breaking a string of 25 straight wins for the juggernaut Lions. The Lions followed that loss the following week with that 49-7 debacle over the Raiders.

So, one might think another slaughter was in the offing, as the play-offs get underway and unfortunately the Raiders had to somehow, perhaps miraculously, get by Fort Garry. But, as it turns out, there was no miracle; one wasn’t needed. There was no fluke; just hard-nosed football. The Raiders, down 12-7 at the half, staged a stirring comeback to beat the Lions. Eastman went toe-to-toe with the larger Lions the entire 60 minutes. Playing the game of their lives, particularly on defence, the Raiders won the game in an unbelievable finish.

Fort Garry struck first in the game, scoring a touchdown in the opening quarter. A two-point convert attempt failed, giving them a 6-0 lead in the early going. But Jamie Peters took the kick-off 70 yards for a touchdown. The convert was successful and the Raiders owned a 7-6 lead. From this moment on, the Lions had their hands full with the Raiders. This was going to be no 49-7 rout.

The Lions again took the lead with another touchdown early in the second quarter, but the Raiders came up with a huge play, blocking the convert attempt to keep the score 12-7, which was how the first half ended.

Coach John Milinkovic told his troops at the break that although they trailed on the scoreboard, he felt the Raiders were actually outplaying the Lions. Being down by only five points at the half was a moral victory for the Raiders, and it had the opposite effect on the stunned and understandably over-confident Lions.

In the second half, the Eastman defence was superb, again. The only point of the third quarter was a punt single by the Lions, giving them an unconverted touchdown lead of 13-7. Early in the fourth, the Raiders had the Lions pinned deep in their zone and instead of punting, the Lions opted to take a safety, narrowing the gap to 13-9.

This is when the fun started. Alain Beachamp later took a punt return deep into Fort Garry territory. With only 4:10 remaining, his brother, Dave Beauchamp, took it in from three yards out. The convert gave the Raiders a stunning 16-13 lead, and the legions of Raiders’ parents and supporters, quite frankly, went bananas, as the historic victory was only minutes away.

But this game was far from over. The Lions were too good of a team to roll over. Following the Raiders’ kick-off, the Lions worked their way back downfield and responded with what appeared to be the winning touchdown, with only 1:48 left on the clock. The convert gave the Lions a 20-16 lead.

But the underdogs weren’t dead yet. The ensuing kick-off return gave the Raiders good position at mid-field. Mike Fast then hooked up with Jamie Peters on a long pass play, but was tackled just short of the goal line. Again, it was Dave Beauchamp who lugged it in from three yards and with the convert it was a 23-20 lead, with one minute left.

It still wasn’t over as Fort Garry had time, and all they needed was a field goal to force overtime. The Lions brought back the kick-off to mid-field. A couple of more plays put them at the Raiders’ 30.

Still out of field goal range, with 13 seconds on the clock, they ran the ball again. There should have been enough time to run the play and then kick the field goal. But the Fort Garry running back broke some tackles and took off for the end zone. With the winning touchdown only feet away, Derrick McLean came up with the play of the game, stopping the running back on the three-yard-line. The gun went. Game over. Pandemonium erupts.

Fittingly, one of the coaches of the Raiders is Paul Beauchamp, who has two sons on the team. It was Beauchamp who started the Eastman Raiders football program, 12 years ago. And without the outstanding coaching these players received from Milinkovic and Beauchamp, along with Rich Peters and Barry McLean, none of this was possible.

The Raiders now had a date with the North Winnipeg Nomads, Saturday at noon at CanadInns Stadium, in the final of the Manitoba Midget (U18) Football League. The Nomads have twice beaten the Raiders this year, both times by one point margins, most recently in the final game of the regular season.

The Eastman Raiders are a collection of 16 to 18-year-old players from the region. Although the Raiders play their home games in Steinbach, the 31 players on the roster hail from seven area communities, including La Broquerie, Blumenort, Kleefeld, Steinbach, Vita, Lorette and Landmark.