Carpenter High School Spartans face off against the Delisle Rebels (in red) during their Sept. 26 game at Lion Park in Meadow Lake. (submitted/Coleton Ethier)

By meadowlakeNOW staff

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Spartans mark milestone in fourth game, despite loss to Delisle Rebels

Sep 28, 2025 | 1:54 PM

For a few fleeting minutes at Lion Park, the Carpenter High School Spartans had something to celebrate — their first-ever lead of the season.

In their Sept. 26 home game against the Delisle Rebels, the Spartans went up 1–0 when the opening kickoff sailed through the end zone for a single point.

Head coach Coleton Ethier said that moment energized his young team.

“It was exciting to have the lead. Once they saw that, they really bought in … they came out focused,” he said.

But the boost didn’t last. Playing in strong winds, the Spartans were forced to abandon the passing-heavy plan they had worked on.

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“Our game plan was we were going to throw the ball a lot, and then we ran into really big winds and forced us to run the ball more than we wanted to,” Ethier said.

Delisle capitalized quickly, rolling to an 84–1 victory. Ethier said the score didn’t tell the whole story.

“Anytime the defense makes a mistake, unfortunately, it ends up as six points for the other team. Whereas, if we make a mistake offensively, that can be hidden a little bit because it doesn’t directly result in points on the scoreboard,” he said.

“We just played a really good team that capitalized on a few errors, and that’s what led to us not being able to keep the momentum.”

Week 1 – ‘They never quit’: Carpenter High’s Spartans fall 49-6 to Kindersley Kobras in home opener

Week 2 – Spartans fall to John Paul II, shifting focus to conditioning and tackling

Week 3 – Spartans flash big plays in third game despite loss to Humboldt Mohawks

The coach pointed to two recurring issues on defense: losing outside containment and tackling too high.

“We’ve come a long way. We’re tackling so much better than we were even two weeks ago. But it’s going to remain a focus for the remaining two weeks of the season,” Ethier said.

Despite the lopsided score, there were bright spots. Defensive lineman Shiron Lambert stood out with several tackles and a sack. Ethier added that the team’s conditioning has improved significantly this fall, and that morale remains strong.

“They’re both proud of how far they’ve come, and hungry to get better still,” he said.

With no game this week, the Spartans will use the break to sharpen fundamentals. For the first time this season, players will sit down in the classroom to study film — breaking down recordings of past games to learn from mistakes.

“Not every kid learns just by doing. Some kids are visual learners … so that’ll give them a chance to see from the outside what we’ve been trying to enforce in practices,” Ethier said.

The Spartans will return to action Oct. 7 when they host the John Paul II Collegiate Crusaders of North Battleford.

“I’m really excited for that matchup because we’ve already played them once [on Sept. 11],” he said.

“It gives us a real measuring stick to see how far we’ve come since we played them.”

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com