Steinbach Regional Sabres aiming high this football season

What could be a memorable year for the Steinbach Regional Secondary School football team got off to a tough start on the field, as they were defeated 20-0 by St Paul’s in pre-season action at A.D. Penner Park Aug. 28.

Football camp opened for the Sabres Aug. 23, with varsity head coach Stephen Fedus praising his team’s commitment level.

“We had a good quality game against a very quality opponent,” Fedus said following the game against St Paul’s.

“There was nothing for us to hang our heads about.”

After giving up an early touchdown, the Sabres defense played the Crusaders to a standstill, only conceding a pair of field goals and a late interception return touchdown in the waning moments of the game.

Fedus said he was pleased with the physical effort from the players, but wanted to see better execution on the field, noting a historically good program like St Paul’s is quick to take advantage of any mistakes.

Steinbach has traditionally grown throughout the year, and brings a talented group of players who have high expectations for themselves. Fedus said the program is hoping to find success in the post-season after a couple seasons of squeaking in and getting soundly defeated in the first round.

“We can make some noise this year,” Fedus said.

“We want to get better each week… We’ve got some work to do to get there. As good as today’s performance is, we have got to get a whole lot better even for next week.”

With two quarterbacks who have never started a game at the varsity level before, the team will be relying on a deep position group across their offense to help out.

“There is going to be some growing pains, some consistency pains early in the season and we’ve got to figure that out,”

“This was a good measuring stick for them. You can preach the details in practice… right now we have some ammunition as coaches.”

The Winnipeg High School Football League changed formats this season again, moving back to tiered divisions at the AAAA level. Steinbach was placed highly in the pre-season formula, based on returning players and last year’s results. They’re in a tough division, headlined by powerhouses Dakota and Oak Park. Steinbach Sturgeon Heights, Crocus Plains and Vincent Massey (Brandon) round out one half of the top tier.

The Springfield Sabres are in Tier 2.

“We should be able to lean on our offensive line a little bit, our receivers, when they get clicking will be good,” Fedus said.

“We’ve got some young linebackers that are learning the game, that are figuring it out. By the end of the season, they’ll be right there.”

One of those linebackers is Grade 12 student Dylan Godlewski, who looked like one of the best players on the field, making several tackles for loss and forcing a fumble on a sack. Godlewski moved from receiver to linebacker this year. With a talented group of pass-catchers, the Sabres need athletes at other positions, and Godlewski looked right at home on defense.

“He’s one of the best athletes in the league, and from what we’ve lost from last year, we needed to put that athleticism somewhere,” Fedus said.

“What we’re asking him to do is not easy, and he’s doing it and doing it well.”

Steinbach brought a slightly undermanned line-up to the pre-season game, with players still working or on summer vacation. Fedus said even when the team is fully healthy with everyone available, they’ll be slightly undermanned compared to other top teams in the province. St Paul’s brought a massive roster to Steinbach for the game, appearing to have double the players SRSS did.

“We’ll have to grin and bear it for a bit and have a little bit of grit, but it will be okay. It’s a committed group,” Fedus said.

“If we really need there’s a couple kids from junior varsity we can call on.”

The Sabres regular season starts Sept. 5 when they host Vincent Massey (Brandon) at A.D. Penner. Kick-off is at 4 p.m.