The Estevan Viragos showed significant improvement this past weekend despite a 49-37 loss to the Moosomin Generals.
Head coach Mark Tribiger expressed pride in his team’s effort, highlighting their resilience and the positive changes made after their previous game.
“We were pretty happy with the outcome, even though we didn’t come away with the win,” Tribiger said. “At halftime, it was 41-19, but we made some adjustments, and in the second half, we put a little bit of a scare into Moosomin.”
The team struggled in the first half, but their turnaround after halftime showed progress from their last outing.
“We came out flat in the first half last week too, but this time we really turned things around in the second half,” Tribiger said.
One of the key factors in the improvement was the team’s renewed commitment to their program.
“We had a good talk with the girls over the week and explained that if we want to start winning, they’ve got to buy into the program and step it up a bit,” Tribiger said. “It seemed to have worked.”
Several players stood out in the game, with Morgan Hayes scoring four touchdowns.
“Morgan had a phenomenal game,” Tribiger said. “Aurora McCutcheon, our quarterback, was solid throughout, running the offense, and Maya Smith, one of our captains, led the defense until she went down with an upper-body injury in the second quarter.”
The Viragos will face the Melville Vipers this weekend in their home game. Melville defeated Estevan in their season opener, but Tribiger is confident the team is better prepared this time.
“We could have easily hung with them in the first game, but it was just mental mistakes,” Tribiger said. “We’ve fixed a lot of that, and I don’t think anyone’s nervous about facing them again. They’re more excited than scared.”
Tribiger said the coaches are proud of the team’s perseverance.
“All of us coaches are super proud of the team for not giving up and continuing to move forward,” he said. “We’re really happy with how things are coming together.”
The Viragos game is Saturday at 5 p.m. at Woodlawn Athletic Field.