On Friday September 30th, the #CFC50 ranked No. 27 Campbell Tartans will face off against the Riffel Royals in a battle royal at Leibel Field at 5:15pm in Regina. Both teams are tied 2-1 and are going into this game fighting for the No. 2 spot provincially.
Riffel is coming off a 14-42 loss to #CFC50 ranked No. 4 team Leboldus last weekend and realized that in order to play at the next level, they will need to work even harder each day. In order to do this, the team had to re-focus and zero in on some issue’s that occurred during last week’s game in this week’s practice.
“Our biggest issue was guys doing other teammates jobs instead of doing their own job. Our focus this week is to clear any confusion and work on maintaining and doing our jobs the best we can” reported Royals Head Coach Derek Pilon.
The Royals did re-focus and practice went well all week and many of the issues from the Leboldus game were worked on. “We are preparing for a really tough opponent this Friday. Campbell has been the top two teams in the past couple years so we know we have to be at our best. They are a really well coached team with a lot of athleticism on the field.”
Defensively, Riffel will have to hone in on several of Campbell’s offensive players. Campbell’s RB Yianni Maragos is one of the top rushers in the league and will need to be located at all times, along with REC Bennet Stusek who they will look to to give the ball away in many different ways. According to Coach Pilon, Stusek is a very gifted athlete and Riffel will have to work to contain him.
That’s not to say that Riffel doesn’t have their own players to watch. #CFC100 RB Kyle Borsa will be looking to reach the top spot in rushing in the league who currently has 15 carries for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns. He will have to contend with a very athletic Campbell defense who “fly’s to the ball and tackles very well.”
Keys to the game for Riffel this weekend according to Coach Pilon are, “Doing our job, executing plays and making plays when we have the opportunity to make them. We know Campbell will be prepared and ready to go and we need to match their intensity and be ready for a tough game.”
The Tartans have momentum coming off a 53-20 win last week, but realize that they, too, have to work on a few specifics as they had a bit of an inconsistent week of practice. “Consistency is definitely something we need to continue to strive for” states Campbell Head Coach Ryan Hall. “We are somewhat satisfied with our progress, but definitely need to improve on things like yardage efficiency in our pass offense, and tightening up responsibilities on defense.”
When asked what they needed to do this week of preparation to make sure that they are ready for this Friday night’s game, Coach Hall responded, “We are continuing to emphasize the basic execution of our offense, defense and special teams, as our primary focus is our own performance. Of course, we are also spending time preparing for some of the dynamic athletes from Riffel, and their good-sized linemen.”
Those “dynamic athletes” would include Riffel’s #CFC100 RB Kyle Borsa and REC Nolan Slusar who are both on the leader board within their division. OL/DL Tanner Schmeckle and REC/LB Lucas Nurkowski are also players that Campbell will have to locate throughout that game and will provide good matchups for the Tartan players.
In order to stop them on offense, Coach Hall states they need to have “disciplined gap control and high effort pursuit” as this will be crucial to containing their run game. Against the pass, “we need to be better at our alignment, technique and speed of play.”
Campbell does not come to table without their own players to watch. Defensively, LB Kyler Flahr and LB Josh White will look to lead their team against Riffel’s offense while REC Bennett Stusek, QB Matt Rivers, RB Yianni Maragos, and REC Berk Noble look to put points on the board.
Friday night’s game is Campbell’s annual Homecoming and there should be a big crowd if history is any indication. If the Tartans can harness all that hype and energy and translate it into a high level of physical and mental intensity during the game, Riffel will have its work cut out for them.
This should be one of the more competitive games going on nationally this weekend. It’s hard to predict which one will come out on top as Campbell has momentum in their favour, but Riffel is hungry for a win. CFC staff are just going to sit this one out and enjoy the ride.
(Photo feature: Riffle RB Kyle Borsa, Campbell REC Bennett Stusek)
About Canadafootballchat.com
Canadafootballchat.com (CFC) is the number one national amateur football website (source: ComScore.com) and most respected source for high school and recruiting news in Canada. CFCs mission is to promote players, coaches, administrators, teams, & leagues from coast to coast. Powered by 40+ local reporters, CFCs content driven network covers Canadian NCAA & CIS recruiting, and high school players & teams like no one else.
About CFC Insider
The ‘CFC Insider’ section is for the fan, player, coach, parent, looking for MORE. The mission of this exclusive membership section is to give more recruiting news, exclusive rankings and multi-series stories as well as coach-player instructional videos. To become a CFC INSIDER member, CLICK HERE!
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
CFC Youth Game Spotlight: Quebec OL ready to lock it down
