A new season of high school football begins this afternoon for the Swift Current Comp. Colts.
Coming off a 20-14 exhibition win last week against Regina's Thom Collegiate at Mosaic Stadium, the Colts will travel to Yorkton to faceoff against the Raiders Gridders.
Colts Head Coach Derek Murdoch said it would be nice to see how his team stacks up against a perennial winner after two weeks of practicing.
"Today everybody's just fired up to get on the bus and go get on the field and play somebody in a different colour," he said.
This will be his 20th season on the sidelines coaching the Colts and they'll have the biggest roster he's seen with 73 players. He was quick to credit Tyson Congdon and the Swift Current Minor Football for helping build the sport at the grassroots level locally.
"It does pose some logistical things, making sure that we have enough equipment and helmets but we've got passed that," he said. "It does give us an opportunity to practice with two sets of offences and two sets of defences and get everybody involved."
Swift Current won the SHSAA 5A South Rural 12-Aside Football League's Tier 2 Championship last season. Murdoch believes the league will see a lot of parity this year and aims to compete for the Tier 1 trophy come playoff time.
"I think we're going to be really competitive," he said. "We would like to get into that top four... We want to get into that championship playoff round and make some noise this year."
Kickoff in Yorkton is set for 4 p.m.
Swift Current will play again next week on the road, in Moose Jaw (on September 14) to face the Peacock Tornadoes before hosting their home open on September 20 against the Moose Jaw Central Cyclones.