Spartans football picks up first win in years

For one side, Thursday’s game at Crusader Field was a long time coming. It was a huge win for a program that has struggled in the past and finally got over the hump.

For the other side, the game was full of mistakes on both sides of the ball, which was tough to see but also understandable given their youth.

The final was 38-28 for the Meadow Lake Spartans over the John Paul II Crusaders, and both teams now have 1-3 records on the season.

“We’ve gone two and a half seasons without a win, so that’s why it was a little extra special today,” Spartans head coach Sam Dawson said after the game. “It’s a huge boost. It’s a lot of positivity for these boys. They’ve been working really hard, day in, day out at practice.

“It was a great, great day for football.”

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It was a great day, indeed, for one side only.

The home side was looking to rebound from a 27-7 loss to Unity the week previous, and they were up against a team that hadn’t won a game yet.

However, JP was without linebacker Andrew Pyle, who is out with a concussion. Quarterback Brady Holhoyi had also tweaked his ankle and going into the week wasn’t guaranteed to play. 

Holhoyi did end up playing on Thursday, and even began a second-half comeback that looked promising. The Crusaders were down 22-14 at half and scored two touchdowns to get a 28-22 lead. But that lead vanished quickly and it was clear in the end the Crusaders would not be coming back this time.

For Dawson and the Spartans, the process to get to this win was a long and grueling road. But this year the team has plenty of third and fourth year players, which made the win all the more special.

“It was a lot of rebuilding. A couple years back we had a strong senior team with very little experience in the [younger] years,” Dawson said. “We have a group right now [where] a lot of them have been with the program four years and three years and they just came to play today. It was great. It was really nice to see.”

Next up for Meadow Lake is Martensville at home at Oct. 5, which despite their subpar record, won’t be easy by any means.

“They were provincial finalists last year, so we can never count them out, even if their record is not showing that right now,” Dawson said. “I know they’ve got a good coaching staff and we look to rebound and just keeping moving forward, keeping all of our momentum moving in a positive way.”

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11