Ten Locals Suit up in 2017 Senior Bowl

The Moose Jaw High School Football League was well represented on Monday at the 2017 Senior Bowl in Saskatoon.

Ten players, including six from Peacock, played their final high school football game in the annual graduating player showcase on the holiday Monday at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

“A lot of Peacock guys and a lot of Moose Jaw guys too, which was always great, seeing the Moose Jaw Minor Football guys represented here,” said Peacock’s Maguire Abell, who was named Team South’s Top Offensive Lineman.

Team South came out on the losing end in the 12-man game for the second straight year with Team North taking a 34-29 win on their home turf. The North also won the 6-man game, 69-40, while the South took the 9-man game, winning 19-15.

Abell will be joining the University of Regina Rams next season. He said this game just made him more hungry heading into the offseason.

“I felt I did okay, you can always do better, but I felt I did pretty well,” said Abell. “I’ll be training hard for the upcoming season.”

Abell’s Peacock teammate Griffin Barrett also walked away with some hardware from the game, winning the Team South Top Defensive Lineman honour after picking up six defensive tackles and one special teams tackle during the game.

“The whole weekend was an experience in itself, just reuniting with some your U16 and U18 buddies, just coming together and having a great time,” said Barrett, who will be playing NCAA division 2 football next year with Simon Fraser University.

“I thought I did well, but it’s a team effort, I have to give credit to all 11 other guys on the field, if it wasn’t for everyone else doing their jobs, they wouldn’t have been able to make me look good, it’s a team effort.”

While a number of players like Abell, Barrett, Jonah Branning, Joel Litt-Jukes and Kolby Nant will be moving on to play post-secondary football either at the U Sports or junior levels, this was the last football game for many of the players, including Peacock quarterback Park Andrews.

He played the first quarter, going 2-for-5 with 19 yards passing in the loss.

“It was a lot of fun, it was a good experience to have under your belt, I’m not going to be playing football anymore, so it was one good last kick at the can,” said Andrews. “It’s always nice to wear the white and orange helmet one more time.”

Defensive back Paul Froehlich was the lone Vanier Vikings player to crack the Team South roster. He said it was a great way to finish off his high school football career.

“I would have like to have played better, I was a little rusty after taking so much time off, but physically, I felt like I was in good shape and I had a lot of fun,” said Froehlich, who finished with one solo tackle and two special teams tackles for Team South.

Three Central Cyclones hit the field for the game with Branning seeing plenty of time at cornerback. After playing slotback for much of his high school career, he plans on moving to the new position with the Rams next season and tried his hand at it in his final high school game.

“It was my first time playing a full game at DB, I did a couple of good things, a couple of bad things, but I now know what I need to do to get better,” he said.

“This was a good way to end my high school football career, I just wish we could have come out with the win, but it was a fun weekend.”

Litt-Jukes, a fellow Cyclone, will be suiting up with the Saskatoon Hilltops and he said he enjoyed suiting up with players from around southern Saskatchewan for the game.

“A lot of guys got together that you never get to play with, but usually play against and it was a really interesting experience to be on a team with them for a change,” said the wide receiver, who was held without a catch, but saw plenty of playing time throughout the game.

Central’s Kolby Nant is hoping to crack the Regina Thunder’s roster next season and he finished with one tackle for Team South.

“It was a good experience, you learn something new and meet some new guys,” said Nant. “Felt good, it’s always good to get out there on the field and bang around with your friends and do what you love to do.”

On a few plays, there was three Peacock offensive linemen occupying one side of the line for Team South with Abell, Adam Hendrickson and Jed Bell.

Hendrickson, who will be attending the University of Regina, said this was a great way to cap off his football career.

“It was a really intense weekend, but luckily we had beautiful weather and a weekend full of football is always fun for me,” he said. “I figured this would be the last game of football I played and I thought go out with a bang and I did.”

Peacock linebacker Cody Van Loosen made one tackle in the game and said he enjoyed the experience of suiting up for Team South.

“It was a great experience, met a lot of new guys and had a great time,” he said.

Van Loosen is taking next season off from football, but hopes to play again in the future.