After a loss in their home opener, the Yorkton Atom Gridders put it all on the field on Saturday afternoon in an impressive fashion. The Gridders dominated the Weyburn Ravens in a 60-36 shootout victory in Weyburn. With 96 combined points put up by the two teams, fans were given the treat of seeing a high scoring contest as both teams can probably walk away satisfied with their offensive performance. However the Gridders simply just had too much firepower for the Ravens defense to handle despite having home field advantage. The second half of the game saw all of the players contribute to the points up, as the Gridders bench joined the party with a scoring parade of their own to close out the Ravens on the road.. “It truly was a total team effort,” according to Offensive Coach, Jason Boyda.
Weyburn opened the scoring early before Yorkton answered back with a touchdown of their own within the game’s first two minutes before taking the lead and holding it for the remainder of the game. The first half saw both teams put up big points as the Ravens managed to score 29 points on the Gridders defense in what was a less then desired first half effort.
The Gridders one two punch of Dylan Lepowick and Garion Miller in the backfield did most of the damage on offense, providing too much running attack for the Ravens to handle. The Gridder offensive line led by; Daniel Balysky, Justin Fookes, Spencer Welke, Richard Richards, Colby Ross, Tannon Keltie and Keegan Halliday were a huge part of the Gridder success on the ground. Jordan Rusnack provided composure and leadership at quarterback for the 60 point performance and even ran in a touchdown himself.
The Gridder defense had some difficulties containing the Raven ball carriers in the first half, but after some crucial adjustments, they were able to hold the Ravens offense. Logan Danylko had a great performance on defense with a fumble recovery and a tackle for a loss. Steven Smith and Carter Pawliw also did an excellent job containing the outside running game. After allowing 29 points in the first half the Gridders conceded only seven in the second half, allowing the offense to take over the game in what turned out to be a lopsided victory
With the win the Gridders improve to 2-1 with both their wins impressively coming on the road. The Gridders look to continue to improve their record and notch their first home win of the season this Saturday when they play the Regina Canadians. The game kicks off at eleven a.m. at Kinsmen Century Field.
