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Provincial playoffs begin on Saturday in high school football across the province.
The Watrous Wildcats will be on the road as they look to add another provincial championship banner, when they head to Southey.
It was a second-place finish in 2024 for the Wildcats. Both of their losses in the regular season came at the hands of the Clavet Cougars.
Head coach Barry Croshaw felt his squad showed a steady amount of improvement throughout the season.
“We wanted to get our offensive line playing better and they’ve improved vastly from the first game until where we are now and are continuing to improve, which is a great for three guys in grade 11.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Croshaw said they are continuing to work on the mental side of the game. He noted the team’s tackling has made strides on defence as well as on special teams.
Momentum is a key aspect for any team heading into the postseason, and Croshaw believes his team is peaking at the right time.
“We’re in a pretty good spot teamwise in all three phases. Our special teams have improved consistently, and offence is really moving the ball well and defence other than a few lapses, mental mistakes, we’ve been really solid on defence too.”
For the Wildcats to advance to the semifinals. They will have to hand Southey their first loss of the year after they went undefeated in their league with Wynyard, Ituna, and Lanigan.
Croshaw expects a tough opponent on Saturday.
“They run five or six different formations, and they run an option play that looks really good, and they have a good screen game, they’re going to be hard to stop.”
He added defensively they must play with discipline and offensively they must capitalize on Southey’s mistakes.
Kickoff on Saturday is 1:00.
The winner of Watrous and Southey will meet the winner of the Wakaw and Rosetown matchup in the semifinals on Saturday, November 2.