Theo Mavridis of the Holy Rosary Raiders completes a tackle during a frigid fourth quarter on Friday night as the Raiders hosted the Bonnyville Voyageurs for Wheatland Football League semi-finals action. The Raiders beat the V’s 44-0 and will host the WFL final at the Raider Bowl this Friday night. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
The Holy Rosary Raiders are one step closer to another Alberta Bowl after shutting out the Bonnyville Voyageurs 44-0 in Wheatland Football League semi-finals action at the Raider Bowl.
Sub-zero temperatures tested the will of each player on Friday night, but the effort put in to push through was something Raiders’ head coach Vince Orieux was pleased with.
“The performance tonight was alright. The weather was a bit of a factor for the first quarter,” he said after the win.
“We had hoped to come out and perform a little better than that; we’ll take the win, but we have to be better, and we have to be able to overcome the elements. It’s a mental piece you have to overcome, and we’ll work on that with the kids.”
Raiders head coach Vince Orieux gives his team a post-game pep talk after beating the Bonnyville Voyageurs 44-0 last Friday in the WFL semi-final game. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Friday’s weather may have played a factor in the Raiders’ gameplan, but Orieux explained once the boys got the ball rolling, they were unstoppable.
“We struggled a bit in the first quarter with the snow, but they got rollin’ and ran the ball well,” said Orieux.
“Quarterback Matthew Fallscheer commands the offense pretty well, and there were some good catches when we needed them.
“Brady Hill picked one off the turf. He made a difficult catch and ran it down to the two-yard-line; when we needed plays, the kids made plays and I’m pretty proud of them.”
With the St. Paul Lions beating the Cold Lake Royals 42-7 in their semi-final, the Raiders now prepare the face the Lions this Friday in the final.
The Raiders also rested a number of their starters on Friday to give the rookies some field time, while also saving the starter’s legs for tomorrow.
“We put JR Howdle in with about three minutes left in the third quarter then he played the fourth,” said Orieux.
“Matthew started, but with the slow start we wanted to give JR some reps. We had a bye last week and played these guys in Bonnyville two weeks ago for our last regular-season game and it was ugly, it was 54-0. The starters were only in for about a quarter and a half; we had to give them some reps tonight.”
An imcomplete pass by the Voyageurs almost resulted in another Raiders interception last Friday night at the Raider Bowl. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Orieux explained Fallscheer learned a lot from former Raiders starting QB Matthew Cavanagh last year and has been bringing a lot of what he learned to the field this year.
“He’s played quarterback since Peewee, he was on three provincial championship Peewee teams, played in the provincial final in Bantam, won provincials last year … the kid’s a winner, and when he wasn’t playing last year, he was learning,” said Orieux.
For Fallscheer, Friday’s win was a big one. One he’s hoping to repeat this Friday against the Lions.
“It was a great win,” said Fallscheer. “Tough conditions off the start but we got it going, and once we got it going it was good. It was also good to get some of the younger kids getting in to play; they did a great job. We’re ready for next week.”
When it came to the weather, Fallscheer explained the key to completing plays was a strong run game.
“They did a great job of that and the O line blocked well; it was great,” he said.
Going into tomorrow’s league final, Fallscheer said the gameplan is to keep doing what they’ve been doing.
“We know we’re a good team, so the plan going into the game this Friday is to keep it simple come out and play like we know we can,” he said.
Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
