Provincials are Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. in Medicine Hat…
SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin
The drought is over.
After two consecutive years of league playoff losses the Brooks Roadrunners have been crowned the 2024 Rangeland Football Conference champions and will head to the provincials.
The Roadrunners will face Red Deer’s Hunting Hills Lightning of the Central Alberta league on Saturday in Medicine Hat. Kick off is at 6 p.m.
The Roadrunners were undefeated during the regular season and last Thursday they defeated the Medicine Hat Colts 36-8 for the title.
It has been a long time coming.
“I’m happy and the boys are happy. They were pretty excited,” said head coach Mark Freeman.
He said the kids took the field but they were pretty nervous and fumbled the ball a number of times in their first possession before they were able to get into their game that they’re used to.
“They actually persevered quite a bit which was great. They hadn’t had to do that much this year. They showed they could handle a bit of pressure which is awesome,” he said.
Jamal Yuye had four touchdowns and a field goal and Austin Popeniuk had a touchdown.
“We played excellent on defence. The only reason (Colts) scored is because we had some penalty issues.”
He told the team to play the game they know they can play.
“As soon as Jamal got his first touchdown he turned into a different player altogether. His confidence came back. They just need to experience a bit of success and then they know what they’re doing again.”
He said the final game showed them they still need to work on some things including passing and keeping control of the ball so this week’s practices will be refining their game.
