Lions Nearly Shocked By Surprisingly Strong Chargers
Story and photos by Robert Thomas
Last year it was a different story.
The Estevan Chargers were not that strong but what a difference a season makes.
Likely the biggest and highly agile offensive line in U12 coupled with a first time running back classified as a natural led the Charges surge that came close to bagging the Lions.
The Moose Jaw Lions defeated the Estevan Chargers 51 - 47 in Kinsmen Moose Jaw Minor Football U 12 division play on Saturday.
Estevan Chargers ball runner Dexx Tendler pushes off a would be Moose Jaw Lions tackler. Tendler was a standout for Estevan - MJ Independent photo by Robert Thomas
The game itself was one where neither team dominated the play.
The Lions would look like they had the momentum strongly on their side only to see the Chargers power their way back - not once, but twice.
And as the game wrapped up the Chargers came close to forcing a turnover deep in the Lions end. A turnover which may have seen the Chargers win.
The game was that close.
Lions head coach Kellyn Bollinger said the game in one word was “exciting”.
“It was an exciting game. I had fun I had a really good time today. It was intense. It was down to the wire. We could have lost that game right up until the end of the fourth quarter there,” he said.
The Lions quarterback looks downfield for an open receiver - MJ Independent photo by Robert Thomas
“Those are the games we want to be in. We want to have good games with good parity in the league and I think we’ve got that.”
“It was a very back and forth game and offensively I think we did things well,” Bollinger said, adding “Logan Florent was an animal out there. He did a good job carrying the ball for us.”
On the defensive side of the game Bollinger said the team had some work to do.
“But we saw a lot of positive things out of those boys (defensive squad) too,” he said, adding “everyone was getting to the ball and trying their best to make the tackle. We just have to work on getting those tackles.”
About the seeming wall of an offensive line that Estevan put on the field he said “that’s a big group of kids.”
“They are I don’t know if I’ve seen a group that large and they’re pretty athletic as well. Some teams are going to have some tough times with that offensive front.”
Asked if the game played out the way the Lions had hoped Bollinger said “we got the win so that’s what we are looking for at the end of the day.”
He said the Lions were expecting a better defensive game but ran into some really good players on Estevan’s offence.
“They made us work.”
Moose Jaw Lions Logan Florent (left) tries to stay one step ahead of Estevan Chargers Hudson Peet. Florent was a major standout for the Lions - MJ Independent photo by Robert Thomas
Asked if he was surprised by the play of the Chargers running back Dexx Tendler - who was a major standout in the game for the Chargers - Bollinger said “he’s a talented little kid. That’s a great runner we had Logan. We had (number) 21 on our side and they had number 8 on their side so I think both of those kids played a tremendous game today.”
Asked if he was surprised by the difference from last year’s Chargers to this year’s edition he said “absolutely. Last year they had a lot of first year players and this year you can tell they’ve got a lot of second year players.”
Bollinger said as far as the Lions this season he was always pumped for football.
“It’s football season so I’m looking forward to see what this group can do. We have the first win under our belts and now we have to look forward to the rest of the season.”
Estevan Chargers head coach James Haagsman said the team was greatly improved when asked about the differences between the two groups.
“We finally got some size on our team this year and we have a lot of returning players. We are mostly veterans so it just makes things easier to do everything on the field,” Haagsman said.
A pitch off by the Moose Jaw Lions - MJ Independent photo by Robert Thomas
Asked about the rollercoaster of momentum and how the Chargers never lost hope he said it was the team’s coaching philosophy.
“We like to coach a mentally strong team. It’s all about self talk. How you present yourself on the field is important. And we almost stole it today at the end,” he said.
Asked about what overall was a pretty good outing - despite the loss - Haagsman said he was very happy with the Chargers day.
“I was really proud of my players. There is nothing I can take away of it the happiness out of this.”
The game was one of strategy where a single play decided the end result.
“It became a game of chess and not checkers there at the end. We’re just happy we have a competitive team this year.”
Estevan Chargers Sophie Mantei was all smiles taking a break at the bench. She is one of the many girls playing in the league - MJ Independent photo by Robert Thomas
Asked what he was hoping for in the season Hagsman was cautiously optimistic.
“I know we got the big guys out front and we are going to be able to push the ball. We just need to shore up our defense a little bit and it’s nothing a couple of good practices can’t cure.”
The big individual standout of the day for the Chargers was their rookie running back number 8 Dexx Tendler.
“Yeah Dexx Tendler this is his first year ever playing football. He is just has a natural ability. He wants the ball. He doesn’t go down on the first tackle which is great. We just have to coach him up.”
On the Moose Jaw Lions sidelines - MJ Independent photo by Robert Thomas
Estevan’s record last season was a single win something Hagsman said the team would like to improve on.
“We only won one last year so this year we are looking to be competitive this season.”
