It was “Friday Night Lights” at Wilson Field as our MHS Royals hosted the Rosetown Royals at their annual night game on Friday. The MHS Royals were coming into this game with a 3-1 record winning their last two games. They kept their streak going defeating Rosetown 37-14. The stands were full as diehard fans came out to cheer on their hometown Royals despite the rainy and snowy conditions. MHS came out strong and brought the fans into the game early on the first play of the game when Kody Gutek returned the first kick-off for a touchdown. The Royals kept the lead for the rest of the game. Spencer McLeod found the endzone for the Royals second major making it 14-0 in the first. The MHS Royals weren’t done yet in the first quarter as QB Tynan Guenther connected with Kyler Fraser to make it 21-0 going into the second quarter. Kody Gutek would take the handoff and score his second touchdown in the second giving the Royals the 28-0 lead. Ian Frattinger would add to the score with a 34 yard field goal.
Coach Evanisky played his bench in the second half as back-up QB Aiden Kliewor took over at the helm. Late in the fourth Josh Dyck took a handoff and ran the length of the field for the touchdown giving the Royals the 37-0 lead. “I was a bit concerned about the weather for our passing game”, commented coach Evanisky, “ but our O-line did a really good job this game and made it possible for us to run the ball”. The Royals had played them two weeks ago so they had a good idea of what they needed to do to win. “I’m just glad that we had such a strong first half. It was good to get up and be able to get more players the experience of playing under the lights at home”.
There were some key tackles from Dmytro Kramesh and Isaac Dagenais on the defense that kept the Rosetown quarterback, Daniel Wiebe, scrambling. He connected with Mark Hill who scored their first major in the fourth. Three minutes later, Wiebe pulled a QB sneak on the hometown boys and scored their second touchdown but they were unable to convert it. The defense kept the pressure on all game and had some key interceptions that the offense converted into points. “I was frustrated with the amount of missed tackles that we will clean up this week before our game on Saturday”, commented defensive coach Shayne Hayward. “However, as a unit we did a good job executing our game plan”.
It was a chilly night but team announcer Patti Rowley, as well as the Royals organization, are very thankful for their new spotter’s booth. They would also like to thank all the parents and volunteers who helped with lights and bleachers to pull off the second annual night game. The Royals have secured a home playoff game. Evanisky is having his players review some film on Kindersley to prepare for the weekend. “We beat Kindersley early in the season and I know they will have improved… but hopefully we can just stay focused and get a win to move on to Provincials”. Come cheer on your Royals next Saturday, October 20 when the Kindersley Kobras come to town. Kick-off is 1:00pm.
