The Martensville High School Royals Football team is currently undefeated as they prepare for the Provincial Quarter Final against Lumsden this weekend. This season was formatted slightly differently from past years due to one team dropping out, which in turn changed the regular season from six games to four games and two bye weeks.
According to Coach Tyler Munday, the team’s biggest challenge of this season was the struggle to stay healthy. “We have been hit by the injury and sickness bugs this year. Thank goodness it was nothing too serious, but we are a smaller team in size and numbers, so we have a few players playing both ways which leads to a lot of nicks and dings that add up as the season progresses. The bye weeks have helped us recover from some of those injuries and illnesses.”
Although there have been some struggles, there have also been some incredible highlights from this season, which includes their undefeated run of 4-0, setting themselves up for a home field advantage in the playoffs.
Some of the personal highlights from the year include a phenomenal 109-yard touchdown run from Brody Nelson, at least one interception per week on the defensive side and multiple turnovers in the past two games. “We have been really fortunate to be able to get the younger and more inexperienced players into games, which has been great as well,” Munday said.
With only a few days left until the provincial quarter final, the team is feeling confident in themselves and getting healthier each day. This past week was another bye week for the team, which Munday noted provided some additional opportunity to heal some of the injuries.
“We are playing a team that we haven’t played before so there are some nerves about that, but we as a coaching staff and team have watched the film on them and we are doing all we can to prepare ourselves,” said Munday.
This weekend’s game will take place on Saturday, October 30 at 1pm at Wilson Field. If the Royals win, they will travel to either Melville or Melfort for the provincial semi-final and if they win that game, they will host the provincial final in Martensville on November 13th. “We’d like to continue to get better each game and for the most part we’ve done that this season. We are excited and looking to continue playing football as far into November as we can.”
“We would like to thank all of the fans and parents that have come out to support us this season. We have had some great crowds and hope they grow as we head into the playoffs. As coaches, we are very proud of the efforts and dedication of the players this season. They have worked incredibly hard, and we can’t think of a better way to end this season than with a provincial title,” Munday added.
PHOTO CAPTION: The Royals played their last regular season game on October 15th and following a bye week, are now heading into the provincial quarter final against Lumsden on Saturday, October 30 at 1pm.
(Photos by Chelsea Sander)
