Perhaps now more than ever, education is the operative word for Lloydminster Comprehensive as the senior high school Barons begin their football season with a predominantly young and inexperienced lineup.
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After the graduation of more than 20 seniorplayers last spring, this year’s Barons are light on Grade 12 personnel and heavy on 11th and 10th graders soaking up football lessons.
“I’d say it’s the youngest team we’ve had in my 17 years with the program,” said coach Kieran Link. “We’re excited to see what the young guys bring and, when the game is going, who steps up and who makes plays. We’re young, we’re energetic. There’s going to be a lot of Grade 11s and 10s getting a lot of starting reps. Some of those guys have played Junior Barons with us before. We’re looking forward to seeing their transition from the junior game to the senior speed.”
The early signs of that development have been encouraging.
After two weeks of training camp, the Barons headed to Martensville, Sask., on Sept. 4 and lost 31-24 in an exhibition game decided on a Royals’ touchdown with less than a minute left.
“A solid effort from the young bucks,” Link reported. “Lots of learning happening.”
Lloydminster led 24-21 with 10:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. Martensville evened the score with 5:16 left.
The Barons played their starters in the first half and went with the backups for the second half, making full use of the pre-season to evaluate their 36-man roster and accent an educational year ahead for the program.
Carson Krchov, one of Lloyd Comp’s few Grade 12 players, scored a touchdown and added a field goal. The Barons’ other TDs came from Rowan Trachuk and Joe Kelly, a Grade 10 student who has won the starting quarterback’s job.
“He’s a dual-threat quarterback,” Link said of Kelly, fresh from the Junior Barons. “It’s rare that you have a Grade 10 starting quarterback, but we’re excited Joe has taken the reins. He’s an excellent leader with the program. I’m excited to see his development over the next three years. He has a great attitude, wants to learn and wants to do things the right way, demonstrates respect to everybody and has a great work ethic. We’re happy he’s our quarterback.
“Running the ball, we’ve got some heavy bruisers. We’ve got (the likes of) Jake Spence (and) Colby Hynes — those are some big fellas — so we’re more of a smash-mouth running game this year, downhill.”
DIVERSE TALENT
Krchov, the Barons’ offensive player of the year last season, provides veteran leadership on and off the field.
“Carson is such a good, raw natural athlete, obviously if you’re a starter on the volleyball team and the football team,” Link said. “He’s kicking for us, punting for us, playing offence for us. He’s fast, shifty, explosive. He’ll be a guy we want to get the ball to a lot.
“We’ve got a small Grade 12 group. Carson is our leader on the Grade 12 side, and then we’re looking to our Grade 11s and 10s for a lot of leadership as well.”
Some of the Barons’ leaders are multi-sport athletes, balancing high school studies and varied athletic commitments. Krchov rotates between football and volleyball, while Kelly and Trachuk are among those also playing hockey.
“As kids get to high school, there’s definitely some multi-sport guys, but because football is so specific, you see specialization start to happen at the high school level as well,” Link said.
Barons’ football rookies like Spence and Brody Payne spent the summer playing baseball.
“Brody is playing defensive line with us,” Link said. “He’s a big, strong kid. He’s starting Day One. That’s a Grade 10 kid playing his first high school game against the big fellas.”
Youth is prevalent with the latest edition of the Barons, who graduated an inordinate number of players from the 2024 team. That bucked the traditional average of a third of the roster from each of the three senior high school classes.
“We had such a huge grad class last year,” Link said. “I think we had 22 players graduate. In high school sports, it’s generally a third, a third and a third.
“But this year is a bit unique — the Grade 12 class is smaller. But we’ve got a solid core of Grade 10s and 11s, so we’re young, and with the Junior Barons coming up the following year, we’d like to get a third, a third, a third numbers back and rocking.
“The senior roster right now is at 36 guys. We’ve got one of the smaller rosters we’ve had. We’ve got a lot of youth in the building.”
COMPACT SEASON
The Barons have been on the field since Aug. 21, practising for a few hours each weekday. It’s an all-consuming commitment in the relatively compact season, whether it’s at the high school or collegiate level.
“The football season in Canada is fairly short,” Link agreed. “You go through September and October, and then if you win, you keep going, and if you lose, you’re done. It’s highly competitive. It’s really intense during the week. You’re going five days a week, and film study on the weekends. It’s a big commitment for everybody, but it’s enjoyable. We enjoy doing it.”
The Barons continue their pre-season schedule this Friday (Sept. 12) in Saskatoon against the Marion Graham Falcons.
“That’ll be an exhibition game for us, a regular-season game for them,” Link said.
Lloyd Comp plays four regular-season games in the North Saskatchewan Football League, beginning at home Sept. 19 against Martensville in a 6:30 p.m. start.
The Barons visit St. Mary on Sept. 26 in Prince Albert and host North Battleford on Oct. 3 and Carlton (Prince Albert) on Oct. 9.
This is the Barons’ third year in the North Saskatchewan league.
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