It took Creighton Kodiaks quarterback Blake Alexander one drive to put his team on the board during a blustery Sept. 18 contest against the Sandy Bay T-Wolves.
Not satisfied with punching the ball in himself on a keeper play, Alexander also kicked a convert, putting the Kodiaks up 8-0 early. Creighton never relinquished the lead and cruised to a 43-9 victory.
The win ensures the Kodiaks will host a playoff game in the Northern Saskatchewan Football League’s Tier 1 group and sets up a first place showdown with the Cumberland House Islanders Sept. 25.
“We ran it in first quarter to get rid of that wind,” Kodiaks head coach Ryan Karakochuk said after the game.
“Once we got the wind, we unleashed both our [running and passing] and they really couldn't handle that. We're preparing for good things ahead.”
The Kodiaks also got touchdowns from Brady Carmichael and Evan Madarash on the ground. Austin McLean and Myles Patterson caught passes from Alexander for touchdowns.
Alexander had a perfect day kicking, going four for four on converts and knocking through a 25 yard field goal. He also rushed in a convert after the snap and hold was bobbled.
“Special teams have been a weapon for us for a couple years now,” Karakochuk said.
“We can kick field goals, we can kick converts - it’s two points for a convert, so that’s huge.”
The Kodiaks were able to dominate a team they lost to last year. Karakochuk said his team was looking for revenge.
“Our guys were ready,” Karakochuk said.
“They were upset that we lost in Sandy Bay last year. When you're at home, you’ve got to take care of business and the intensity for our team was up there. I'm proud of them. They worked hard and sometimes score gets away like that, but it was a tough game in the trenches.”
The Kodiaks have outscored their opponents in their first two games of the season 110-21.
“We didn't give up any big plays,” Karakochuk said.
“We made them drive the field. Sometimes it's hard on an offense when you’ve got to go all the way down the field and take punishment. I'm proud of my defense for not giving anything up and proud of them for tackling. We worked on it and they executed.”
Defensively, the Kodiaks were led by Haiden Kanto-Lengyel, who was all over the field making tackles.
“He's our captain for a reason,” Karakochuk said of Kanto-Lengyel’s play.
“You know he's going to make 20 tackles a game.”
The victory against the T-Wolves sets up a potentially league-defining matchup in Cumberland House against the Islanders. If the Kodiaks can win, they’ll lock up first place in their league.
“We're going [to Cumberland], we know it's going to be a tough game,” Karakochuk said.
“We know it's going to be a battle and hopefully we can win and get first and we'll probably see one of these teams again in the league championship.”
After visiting Cumberland, the Kodiaks will round out their regular season schedule when they host the Pinehouse Lakers for their second matchup of the season Oct. 2.
