For the first time since moving to southern-based leagues, the Creighton Kodiaks football team is going province-wide. The Kodiaks have qualified for the provincial championships, playing their first game in Rosetown this weekend.
The Kodiaks played their final game of the regular season at the Oval of Dreams Oct. 17, facing the Hague Panthers and beating them for the second time this season, getting a 51-14 win.
Creighton’s seed was confirmed before they even set foot on the field. Two losses to undefeated Wakaw meant the Kodiaks could not finish first, but Hague was upset by Shellbrook in Week 5, which meant the Kodiaks would not fall lower than second. With the top two teams in the four-team conference guaranteed entry to provincial football playoffs, the Kodiaks clinched before the opening coin toss.
That coin toss was the only thing Creighton lost on game day. Both teams were even early, but the Kodiaks struck first, with Rogan Hlady hauling in a pass for a touchdown late in the first quarter and banging in the two-point convert kick himself soon after. With Kodiaks quarterback Josh Trumbley out with a hand injury, backup playcaller Rylan Grondal was behind centre - he acquitted himself well in his first start.
Payton Pelletier extended the lead on the ground with his sole touchdown of the day early in the second quarter - another kick nailed by Hlady made it 16-0 Creighton. A key interception before halftime by Jordan Donaghy set the Kodiaks up again for a third touchdown, this time by Brody Grant, paired with another big boot by Hlady. Creighton led 24-0 at half.
The Kodiaks’ biggest blow of the day didn’t take place on the field - it came from the sidelines, where Pelletier, the team’s lead running back and cornerback, went injured in the second quarter. Initial diagnosis at the game for Pelletier was a broken collarbone, which would end his season. Pelletier, Trumbley and defensive star Brayden Ayers will now each be sidelined for playoff games this year - made more painful by the fact Ayers and Trumbley are Grade 12 players.
The game must go on though, and the Kodiaks kept the pressure up, picking up another nine points early in the third quarter. Hague scored a touchdown to get the Panthers on the board, missing the convert kick, but the Kodiaks rumbled back with Kaleb Lycan pounding in the rock for Creighton. Another touchdown came on a pass to end the quarter - Grondal found Matthew Lavis for the score, sending the game into the fourth quarter 45-6 Creighton.
Hague snagged a late touchdown and the game started getting rowdy - a Hague player was assessed a penalty for firing a punch at a Kodiaks player - but Creighton held their nerve. A final late score by Creighton ended the day for the scorers and confirmed the team’s spot in provincials.
With the victory, Creighton ends what may be the most successful football regular season in the school’s history - 4-2, with two wins each against Shellbrook and Hague, both programs the Kodiaks had never beaten before this season. It is the first season where Creighton has logged more than one win against a southern-based opponent - the program’s first-ever southern win only came last year against a Rosthern team that finished without a win all year.
The stage is now set for Saskatchewan’s 2A six-man football playoffs. The province’s top eight teams will face off over the coming weeks for Saskatchewan six-man football supremacy. For the first time, that eight team group will contain a northern squad - the Kodiaks.
Creighton will head to Rosetown to play the Royals Oct. 26 in their first-ever provincial quarter-final game. The team’s odds are long - Rosetown was dominant in their conference this season, giving up barely 10 points a game on average and shutting opposing teams out twice. The Royals averaged just over 45 points a game this year, breaking 50 three times and 70 points twice.
Elsewhere in the province, undefeated Wakaw will host the Unity Warriors, while the Watrous Wildcats will play the Southey Screaming Eagles and Clavet will host Wynyard. The winners of those four games will play each other in the provincial semis, with all four teams guaranteed one more game - a championship game with the winners, a bronze medal game with the losers. If a team loses in the quarterfinals though, it’s the end of the road - the Kodiaks will need to beat Rosetown if they want to keep playing this year.
