The Steinbach Regional Secondary School's junior varsity football team will play in it's first ever playoff game next week.

The Sabres head into the post-season on a bit of a downer after losing their regular season finale 21-17 to the Grant Park Pirates Wednesday in Winnipeg.

"Our game against Grant Park was a tough one," texted SRSS head coach Kerry Friesen. "We came in with a lot of confidence considering what we saw on film and our 3-2 record compared to their 1-4 record."

"They played us tough and were the more physical team. Unfortunately, we didn’t make enough plays to finish off the game."

Nathan Schure had both Steinbach Regional touchdowns.

He hauled in a 47-yard pass from quarterback Austin Dueck and also ran in from five yards out.

Dueck completed 11-of-18 passes for 180 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Jayden Martens caught five passes for 75 yards and Avery Penner carried the ball 10 times for 184 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, Thomas Peters had seven tackles and a forced fumble.

Bryson Friesen and Jayden Pozniak both had interceptions and Reece Knelsen had a fumble recovery.

The Sabres finished in third place in the Winnipeg High School Football League's Junior Varsity Division and will meet the Oak Park Raiders in the semifinals next Wednesday.

"Our teams 3-3 record and a playoff appearance has exceeded our staffs expections,” commented coach Friesen. "It’s hard to believe that this is our inaugural season, as it feels like our boys have been playing for multiple years already."

And now the playoffs.

"I think our two keys against Oak Park are going to be physicality and consistency," answered Friesen when asked about next weeks semifinal with the Raiders. "It was a close 20-12 game when we played them in week three of the season. We'll see which team can put together a complete game."


photos courtesy Billie Jo Hunter