The Creighton Kodiaks have a chance to repeat as Northern Saskatchewan Football League champions following their second straight undefeated season.
A 46-27 victory over the La Ronge-Churchill Chargers last Thursday, Oct. 1 has the Kodiaks gearing up for the league final and the provincial playoffs.
“We have two weeks to prepare [for the final] and we are very excited [about] what lies ahead,” head coach Ryan Karakochuk said following the team’s regular-season-ending win.
La Ronge-Churchill and Pinehouse play in the league semi-final tomorrow, Thursday. The winner will face Creighton in the final on Saturday, Oct. 17 in Prince Albert.
Karakochuk doesn’t have a preference between those two teams, though he admits La Ronge-Churchill “gave us a scare” during the Oct. 1 game.
“You know what, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Our goal is to hopefully go farther than the northern final.”
The Kodiaks are spending this week concentrating on endurance and ensuring players are in game shape.
Next week will be more focused on their opponents in the final and which strategies to employ against them.
Creighton will watch Thursday’s game between La Ronge-Churchill and Pinehouse on live stream, and will have video on both teams to review.
A win in Prince Albert would see the Kodiaks repeat as Ralph Pilz Trophy winners. It would also give them home-field advantage, and a weaker opponent, in their first-ever provincial high school playoff game.
If the Kodiaks lose the league final, they’re still guaranteed a spot in the provincial playoffs now that the Northern league is included in the Saskatchewan playoffs.
They’d just play the first-place team in Conference 4 rather than the second-place team, and the game would be on the road instead of at home.
The Northern league is listed as Conference 5 in the provincial high school football system. Conference 4 features teams located between Prince Albert and Saskatoon.
Karakochuk says the Kodiaks are excited about playing “the best the province has to offer.”
Creighton’s victory over La Ronge-Churchill last week left them undefeated in their history, having won all regular season and playoff games in their two-year history. That’s a record of 11-0.
But it wasn’t easy.
“We were trailing at half-time 20-14 and trailing for the first time ever in our history at half time,” said Karakochuk. “Our players really had to experience coming back and battling through some adversity. I was really impressed with how we battled back and showed some spirit and muscle in the second half.”
Karakochuk gave credit to the Chargers for playing a great game and keeping the Kodiaks on their toes.
“They are very well coached team and they gave us our first true test in two years,” he said.
The Kodiaks scored six touchdowns. Leading the way once again were two of the team’s stars, running back Tyler Williamson and wide receiver Chris Reynolds, with two apiece.
Scoring one TD each were linebacker Dean Rainville and quarterback Blair Pietsch.
